Economy Added 236,000 Jobs Despite Expectations of Only 160,000

The U.S. economy added 236,000 jobs in February. According to the Wall Street Journal, economists had forecast that payrolls would rise by 160,000 and the unemployment rate would fall to 7.8 percent. In related news,  the unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 7.7 percent, the lowest level since the end of 2008.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 236,000 in February, and the unemployment rate edged down to 7.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in professional and business services, construction, and health care. Continue Reading

Despite More Government Layoffs, 157,000 Net New Jobs Added in January

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 157,000 in January, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 7.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday. Retail trade, construction, health care, and wholesale trade added jobs over the month.

Household Survey Data

The number of unemployed persons, at 12.3 million, was little changed in January. The unemployment rate was 7.9 percent and has been at or near that level since September 2012. Continue Reading

Small Businesses Responsible For All of January’s 193,000 Job Gains

January 2013 Change in Nonfarm Private Employment by Company Size

Private sector employment increased by 192,000 jobs from December to January, according to the January ADP National Employment Report®, which is produced by ADP®, a leading provider of human capital management services, in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics. The report, which is derived from ADP’s actual payroll data, measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally-adjusted basis. The December 2012 report, which reported job gains of 215,000, was revised downward by 30,000 to 185,000 jobs.

Goods-producing employment rose by 15,000 jobs in January which was primarily driven by an increase in construction jobs of 15,000. Meanwhile, manufacturers shed 3,000 jobs.  Continue Reading

Private Sector Gained 582,000 Jobs in Q2 2012; California Led With 108,383 New Jobs

From March 2012 to June 2012 gross job gains from opening and expanding private sector establishments were 7.0 million, an increase of 69,000 from the previous quarter, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over this period, gross job losses from closing and contracting private sector establishments were 6.4 million, an increase of 301,000 from the previous quarter.

The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 582,000 jobs in the private sector during the second quarter of 2012. Continue Reading