Economy Adds 163,000 Jobs — Most Since February — Unemployment Rate at 8.3%

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 163,000 in July, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 8.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment rose in professiona and business services, food services and drinking places, and manufacturing.

Household Survey Data

Both the number of unemployed persons (12.8 million) and the unemployment rate (8.3 percent) were essentially unchanged in July. Both measures have shown little movement thus far in 2012.
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Private Sector Added 163,000 More Jobs in June

Employment in the U.S. nonfarm private business sector increased by 163,000 from June to July, on a seasonally adjusted basis. The estimated gain from May to June was revised down slightly, from the initial estimate of 176,000 to 172,000. Public sector layoffs — particularly at the state and local level — have been the primary drag on the employment numbers for months. These public sector numbers won’t be known until Friday’s report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continue Reading

Business and Professional Services Create Half of April’s 115,000 New Jobs

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 115,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 8.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in professional and business services, retail trade, and health care, but declined in transportation and warehousing.

Household Survey Data

Both the number of unemployed persons (12.5 million) and the unemployment rate (8.1 percent) changed little in April.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.5 percent), adult women (7.4 percent), teenagers (24.9 percent), whites (7.4 percent), and Hispanics (10.3 percent) showed little or no change in April, while the rate for blacks (13.0 percent) declined over the month. The jobless rate for Asians was 5.2 percent in April (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier. Continue Reading

Economic Indicators Indicate Job Market About to Boom

The economy still has a long, long way to go before we will recover all of the jobs lost during the recession but the past few months are enough to convince all but the most irrational skeptic that we’re moving in the correct direction. Slowly, but better.

But those who are excited about the economy adding a couple of hundred thousand jobs per month need to keep in mind that if we continue to add jobs at that rate then it will take a decade to make up all for all the jobs lost toward the end of George W. Bush’s presidency as well as at the beginning of Barack Obama’s as the job losses were so monumental (750,000 some months) and the nation’s population has grown since the recession started in 2007. Looking back at job growth in the 1980′s or latter part of the 1990′s, we see that job growth of 250,000 per month is relatively weak. To actually increase the number of jobs we have in real terms, we need to start seeing monthly net jobs increase by at least 300,000 and even 400,000. Unlikely? Hardly. Continue Reading

Economy Added 243,000 Jobs in January — Double Expections

The U.S. economy added 243,000 jobs in January — the fastest growth since April. The unemployment rate, obtained from a different survey, fell by two-tenths of a percentage point to 8.3 percent, the lowest it has been since February 2009. Economists had forecast a gain of 125,000 in payrolls and for the jobless rate to remain at 8.5 percent.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 243,000 in January, and the unemployment rate decreased to 8.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job growth was widespread in the private sector, with large employment gains in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing. Government employment changed little over the month. Continue Reading