Jed Smith, Ph.D., economist for the NAR, said since the U.S. population continues to grow, this country must add at least 150,000 new jobs each month to simply keep the unemployment rate from rising.
Last month, the U.S. economy couldn’t even do that.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that the U.S. added no new jobs last month, and the unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent.
When was the last time this country reported a net job change of zero? The answer is 1945. Not good.
Despite the fact that jobs were added at their fastest pace in a decade, stocks were driven lower this morning and optimism of a firm and continued recovery faded due to the fact that the number of new jobs in May were overwhelmingly exaggerated by the hiring of temporary census workers.
Payrolls increased by 431,000 in May, yet according to the U.S. Labor Department, private-sector payrolls increased by only 41,000 (290,000 jobs were added in April). The unemployment rate did drop from 9.9% in April to 9.7% in May, a result of fewer job seekers in the market, according to Economy.com.
The economy added 290,000 jobs in April, marking the fourth-straight monthly increase in employment. While the job market has experienced nearly 8.5 million layoffs in the last two years, according to the Wall Street Journal, this month’s jobs report points to several signs of a firming market — including the fact that the unemployment rate increased from 9.7% to 9.9%.
How is that possible? “Based on how the two figures are calculated, the increase in the unemployment rate means that more people expressed an interest in finding work,” said HSH VP Keith Gumbinger.
Nonfarm payrolls added 162,000 jobs in March, the largest “seasonally-adjusted” monthly increase in about three years. While the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7%, both the January and February numbers were revised upward.
From Moody’s.com: Read the rest of this entry »
There is big news in the world of jobs today, the number of lost jobs is getting smaller. The unemployment rate fell back to 10% in November after hitting 10.2% in the month prior. Only 11,000 jobs were lost in November — some 90,000 less than some economists had predicted. Even September and October’s jobless numbers saw some improvement after the fact, the number of jobs lost during that period improved by 159,000.
Before you pop the champagne, it’s important to consider why these numbers may be as low as they are. With production levels firming, the worst of the recession falling behind us, and with millions of Americans now unemployed, we wonder if there’s anyone left to fire.
We just recently read that, according to the critics, the president’s jobs summit — which began earlier this afternoon — “is more about politics than policy.” If you think about it, isn’t most, if not all, policy driven by political pressures?
On one hand, economists like Lawrence Summers feel that “There is no more important priority for the American economy than jobs.” On the other hand, many lawmakers are up for reelection in 2010, and how their home states interpret how their lawmakers handle the unemployment situation could influence whether or not they remain in office, and whether or not the president will continue to have a Democratic Congress on his side. With all that said, the pressure is on from all sides to stem the tide of job loss: Read the rest of this entry »
President Obama announced today that a jobs summit will be held at the White House next month in order to recast legislative attention to a sector of the economy that has worsened:
“This is one of the great challenges that remains in our economy, a challenge that my administration is absolutely determined to meet,” [said the president].
The unemployment rate has surpassed the 10% mark for the first time since 1983, two months earlier than many had widely predicted. The jobless rate increased to 10.2% in October from 9.8% the month prior.
The Numbers Are Grim
Both the unemployment rate as well as job losses increased in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Widely expected by most analysts, the unemployment rate trended upwards last month to 9.8%, making its way towards the 10% mark expected by many in 2010. Payrolls dropped by 263,000 jobs in September, bringing the grand total of jobs lost since the recession began in December of 2007 to 7.2 million.
September marked the 21st consecutive month of job losses. Even those who have remained employed continue to grapple with diminished work weeks and less hours: Read the rest of this entry »
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