Only 88,000 New Jobs Added in March; Economists Predicted 200,000

A cynic might say that the news out of Washington, D.C. is rarely good but today that cynic would be correct. The U.S. Department of Labor released its monthly employment report today and the news was quite disappointing. The U.S. economy added only 88,000, nonfarm jobs in March. Economists had predicted an increase of 200,000. The biggest loser? Retail. In related news, fewer people started looking for work during the month so the number of unemployed people hardly moved (now 11.7 million) and the unemployment rate fell but only slightly from 7.7 to 7.6 percent.

Household Survey Data

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (6.9 percent), adult women (7.0 percent), teenagers (24.2 percent), whites (6.7 percent), blacks (13.3 percent), and Hispanics (9.2 percent) showed little or no change in March. The jobless rate for Asians was 5.0 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier. Continue Reading

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

Employers Add 155,000 Jobs in December; Private Sector Up 168,000

U.S. job growth slowed slightly in December as Congress fought over tax increases and spending cuts. In a nutshell, the report was quite positive as U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by a seasonally adjusted 155,000 last month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported earlier today. Given population growth, that’s about how many jobs need to be added to the economy in order to keep the employment rate steady. In 2012, job gains averaged 153,000 per month, the same as in 2011. In December, employment rose in health care, food services and drinking places, construction, and manufacturing.

Health care employment increased by 45,000 over the month, with gains in ambulatory health care services (+23,000), in hospitals (+12,000), and in nursing and residential care facilities (+10,000). Health care added 338,000 jobs over the past 12 months.

Employment in food services and drinking places rose by 38,000 in December. In 2012, the industry added an average of 24,000 jobs per month, essentially the same as in 2011.

Construction employment rose by 30,000 in December, with gains in construction of buildings (+13,000) and in residential specialty trade contractors (+12,000).

In December, manufacturing employment grew by 25,000, with small gains in a number of component industries. In 2012, manufacturing added 180,000 jobs; most of the growth occurred during the first quarter of the year.
Within retail trade, employment in clothing and accessories stores fell by 19,000 in December, following gains that totaled 55,000 over the prior 3 months. In December, employment continued to trend up in automobile dealers and in food and beverage stores.

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 7 cents in December to $23.73. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.1 percent. From November 2011 to November 2012, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 1.8 percent.

Most major indicators from the survey of households showed little or no change in December. The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households, was 7.8 percent, the same as the November figure. The rate has been at or near that level since September. In December, the number of unemployed persons was little changed at 12.2 million. Among the unemployed, 39.1 percent had been jobless for 27 weeks or more. The employment-population ratio, at 58.6 percent, also was essentially unchanged over the month, and the labor force participation rate held at 63.6 percent.

Among persons who were neither working nor looking for work in December, 2.6 million were classified as marginally attached to the labor force, about unchanged from a year earlier. These individuals wanted a job, were available for work, and had looked for a job within the last 12 months. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, was little changed in December from a year earlier at 1.1 million.

Bad Bosses Beware: Strengthening Economy Causing More Employees to Quit

Amy Kaminski of Compdata Surveys

As the national unemployment rate remained above eight percent for the majority of this year, turnover rates are beginning to inch up. The average total turnover rate reported for employers from 2011 was 15.2 percent, according to the 2012 BenchmarkPro survey results. That’s up slightly from 14.4 percent reported a year ago. Voluntary turnover rates were reported at 9.8 percent, up from 9.1 percent last year.

“Voluntary turnover rates were trending downward for several years, but the numbers are beginning to edge up again,” said Amy Kaminski, director of marketing for Compdata Surveys. “This is likely because employees are beginning to feel more comfortable about re-entering the job market as the economy shows small signs of improvement.” Continue Reading

Employment Report Blows Away Estimates; Aug & Sep Revised Upward Too

The consensus of economic forecasts for today’s payroll report was that in October the U.S. would have added about 125,000 jobs and that the unemployment would slightly increase from 7.8 to 7.9 percent due to an increase in the number of people in the labor force. The unemployment rate announced today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics was the same as forecast, but the total number of jobs created was almost 37 percent higher as 171,000 net, new jobs were created in October. Further bolstering the strength of the report was that BLS also announced that some 84,000 more net, new jobs were created in August and September than previously estimated.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 171,000 in October, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 7.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment rose in professional and business services, health care, and retail trade.

Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy had no discernible effect on the employment and unemployment data for October. Household survey data collection was completed before the storm, and establishment survey data collection rates were within normal ranges nationally and for the affected areas.

Household Survey Data

Both the unemployment rate (7.9 percent) and the number of unemployed persons (12.3 million) were essentially unchanged in October, following declines in September. Continue Reading

Unemployment Rate for Technology Jobs Below National Average

If you are searching for a job in technology, then you’re likely to find one.  While the unemployment rate is 7.8% nationally, the technology sector is doing even better with an unemployment rate around 6%.  At the same time, 54% of CIOs said it’s challenging to find skilled professionals today, according to Robert Half Technology’s Q4 IT Hiring Index. Continue Reading

83% of Employers Offer Merit Pay Increases to Improve Retention

As the job market slowly continues to open up, more employers are seeking ways to attract and retain the most valuable talent, and many are looking to rewards systems to facilitate this process.  The Compdata Surveys BenchmarkPro 2012 survey results found 82.8 percent of employers offer merit increases as one of the many systems used to reward employees. The average merit increase budget reported for 2012 was 2.7 percent, with 2.8 percent projected for 2013.

Bonuses are a popular reward option, as they are offered by 67.6 percent of employers surveyed. Nearly 40 percent of organizations use incentive pay, compared to spot incentives at 23.6 percent. Skill-based pay is utilized by 12.6 percent of survey respondents and key contributor rewards are used the least, 4.9 percent. Continue Reading

96,000 Jobs Added in August; Unemployment Falls to 8.1%

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 96,000 in August, and the unemployment rate edged down to 8.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in food services and drinking places, in professional and technical services, and in health care.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the 96,000 net new jobs in August was fewer than the 125,000 gain forecast by economists. The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households, fell to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent as the number of people looking for jobs shrank. Private sector employment by corporations accounted for all of the growth in payrolls as they added 103,000 jobs. Payroll numbers for the prior two months were revised lower: July payrolls rose 141,000 compared with the initially reported 163,000, while June’s gain was 45,000 instead of 64,000 new jobs.

Household Survey Data

The unemployment rate edged down in August to 8.1 percent. Since the beginning of this year, the rate has held in a narrow range of 8.1 to 8.3 percent. The number of unemployed persons, at 12.5 million, was little changed in August.
Continue Reading

Number of Unemployed Young People Since 2002 Increases by 64%

According to one source, there has been an increase of young people not working since 2002, in 2012.

Nick Gidwani, founder and entrepreneur of SkilledUp.com (a search engine that provides easy access and discovery of more than 40,000 online, career-advancement and skill development courses), says there are a growing number of young people who have been priced out of higher education and are looking for alternative ways to increase their marketability. Many of those who have acquired a degree have found that its value no longer guarantees a well-paying career in their field of study. Millennials typically have excellent basic computer proficiency, but they lack specific and marketable skills that businesses can use, such as using graphic design or data analysis software. With thousands of low-cost or free courses, these young people can get “skilled up” so that they can take control of their career paths and compete in the marketplace – both with their peers, and with an increasingly global digital workforce in India, South America and Eastern Europe. Continue Reading

College Education Concerns for the United States

Americans constantly hear about the importance of getting a good college education.  Of course, this then should lead to getting a good job.  According to a recent infographic from Civitas Learning, a start-up backed in part by Adam Dell’s Austin Ventures and focused on improving key academic outcomes in higher education through data analytics, there are some concerns for the U.S. when it comes to students earning degrees. Continue Reading