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03 Jun 2011 12:18

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U.S.: Unemployment creeps upward for second month in a row

  • 9.1% unemployment in May, up from 9% in April  source
  • » That’s a .2% increase since March, when unemployment was looking “good” at 8.9%. A total of 83,000 jobs were added in the (nonfarm) private sector; however, 29,000 governmental employees got the axe last month, bringing the total number of jobs added down to 54,000. Here’s to a better month.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 May 2011 10:46

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Biz: April jobs numbers: Mostly good this time, but not completely

  • 244k the number of jobs added in April, according to fresh jobs numbers released today
  • 268k the number of jobs added specifically to the private sector, which drove the growth
  • 9% the unemployment rate, which is up slightly from March’s number, 8.8 percent source
  • » Overall, decent news: Economists largely feel that the numbers are positive this time around. One negative of note is the decline of public sector jobs, which fell by 24,000 last month. However, some economists note that certain numbers, such as weak construction numbers and a lack of growth in average work hours, give them pause. Still though, a few negative-looking economic reports from earlier in the week made these numbers look much better than expected.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 May 2011 01:29

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U.S.: Stay in school and you’re much, much more likely to get a job

  • This is why they tell you to stay in school, kids. Seriously, look at that discrepancy! Of course, the usual causation-correlation disclaimer is in effect here; maybe the kids who graduated college were the ones naturally more predisposed to keeping a job anyway? Nevertheless, this should give pause to any high schoolers considering dropping out. (source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Apr 2011 11:15

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U.S.: Unemployment falls, 261k new jobs added in March

  • 8.8% unemployment rate, lowest in two years source
  • » There’s more: In the last four months, unemployment has fallen a total of one percent. This may not seem significant, but it’s in fact the largest four-month drop since 1983. Even if the economy continued to grow at this rate, though, the US wouldn’t be back to pre-recession employment rates until–wait for it–2018. So while this is a good jobs report, it’s not quite good enough. Here’s to the future!
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Mar 2011 20:26

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Biz: More on the unemployment figures: Who wants a job, anyway?

  • 6.4 million people not counted in the “labor force” want jobs now
  • 8.9% the percentage of people the U.S. government says are unemployed, according to traditional figures which have been caressed with great care to look as good as possible
  • 12.6% the percentage of people who the government says want a job, but are unable to get one – a number that includes, but extends BEYOND the unemployed source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Mar 2011 10:46

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Biz: Job numbers: Why Feburary’s numbers are particularly promising

  • 8.9% the unemployment rate in February, the lowest it’s been in over two years
  • 192k the increase in nonfarm payrolls – the biggest monthly leap since May
  • 58k the jump in January’s payroll numbers in revised estimates source
  • » Why this jump is a pretty big deal: Simply put, this is all private-sector growth, meaning that business are hiring again. It’s not nearly as quick as economists want it, but the growth is promising, so they’ll take it. Also worth noting – the jump in jobs last May was due to the Census, which means that those were here-today-gone-tomorrow-type jobs. This is actual, real growth. Hopefully it keeps up.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Mar 2011 11:25

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Biz: Workplace productivity goes up. We suggest it goes back down.

  • 2.6% jump in productivity levels in the recent quarter source
  • » Suggestion for the workforce at large: Be less productive. It will encourage employers to hire more people if they can’t get done what they need to get done with the people they have. And as a result, the unemployment rate will go down because these greedy bastards won’t be able to use their profit picture to screw over millions of unemployed people who can’t find work. You bastards need to stop working so hard. Clock out half an hour early one day for no reason. Sit at your desk and reload Tumblr repeatedly. Blow a deadline. Make yourself not so much replaceable, but appendable. You need an assistant, right? Right? (Note, since people are taking this post seriously: This is “A Modest Proposal,” a Swiftian joke.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

03 Mar 2011 10:19

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Biz: Unemployment: Jobless claims numbers hit three-year low

  • 362,000 the number of new jobless claims – down 20,000 from the week before and overall fairly low
  • May ’08 the last time the numbers were lower than this – with suggests a positive downward trend source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Feb 2011 11:05

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Biz: Federal Reserve’s Ben Bernanke not happy about slow hiring pace

  • The job market has improved only slowly. … This gain was barely sufficient to accommodate the inflow of recent graduates and other new entrants into the labor force and, therefore, not enough to significantly erode the wide margin of slack that remains in our labor market.
  • Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke • Explaining, in front of the House Budget Committee, the issues he and others are having with the slow pace of the economic recovery. While things are recovering, job growth is way too slow for his comfort. In other news, Bernanke says that inflation is likely to stay low for the foreseeable future, and that the government needs to get the budget situation dealt with. “Creditors would never be willing to lend to a government with debt, relative to national income, that is rising without limit,” he says, suggesting that we could face an actual fiscal crisis if we don’t take heed. Great. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2011 14:19

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Biz, U.S.: Unemployment rate: How did it fall with such low job creation?

  • 36,000new jobs in January (really freaking low)
  • 9.8% November’s really high unemployment rate
  • 9.4% December’s falling unemployment rate
  • 9.0% January’s rate; how did it dip so far? source
  • » Explaining exactly what happened: We’ve seen three perfectly valid arguments for why this disparity between slow job growth and deep unemployment decline took place. The first is pointed out by a Gallup chart that shows that non-seasonally-adjusted unemployment is actually at 9.8 percent – suggesting seasonal adjustment is skewing the numbers. The second suggested reason is much more sinister-sounding: Unemployment benefits for so-called 99ers are starting to run out, and they aren’t looking for jobs, meaning that they are no longer covered as part of the total amount. Finally, the weather sucked in January, with snow covering most of the country, so that could be a possible explanation too. So, which one is the case, anyway?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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