UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR MARCH HITS 5.1%

Employers cut 80,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate climbed to 5.1%, the highest rate since the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was felt in September 2005. This is the third consecutive month of job losses (the fourth if you only include private non-governmental jobs). So far this year 232,000 jobs have been lost.

From The New York Times:

The nation’s employers eliminated tens of thousands of jobs for the third month in a row, the government reported Friday, and top Democrats immediately called for new measures to help suffering American workers.

After the early-morning report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that 80,000 jobs had disappeared in March, the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, said she would propose a second economic stimulus package. Hers would supplement the $150 billion measure that includes the mailing of tax rebates to millions of Americans beginning next month.

63,000 JOBS LOST IN FEBRUARY

The February jobs report showed that 63,000 jobs were cut in February, yet the unemployment report showed that the unemployment report improved from 4.9% to 4.8%. How? Because the unemployment report does not count anyone who quits looking for work and a good many people who are unemployed have quit looking in this difficult job market.

From USA Today:

Employers cut jobs for a second month in February while the unemployment rate fell as more people quit looking for work in the weakening job market, the government said Friday in a report that led to further calls of a 2008 recession.

From The New York Times:

The worst fears of consumers, investors and Washington officials were confirmed on Friday, as deepening paralysis on Wall Street collided with stark new evidence of falling employment and a likely recession.

In a report that was far worse than most analysts had expected, the Labor Department estimated that the nation lost 63,000 jobs in February. It was the second consecutive monthly decline, and the third straight drop for private-sector jobs.

Though monthly payroll data are notoriously volatile and subject to revision, the jobs report was so bleak that many of the few remaining optimists on Wall Street threw in the towel and conceded that the United States was already in a recession.

JOBLESS CLAIMS 4-WEEK AVERAGE WORST SINCE HURRICANE KATRINA

While many "news" organizations will no doubt be blasting the headline "JOBLESS CLAIMS FALL", responsible ones will be leading with "4-WEEK JOBLESS CLAIMS AVERAGE WORST SINCE HURRICANE KATRINA SPIKE".

From USA Today:

The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of new jobless claims dropped by 9,000 last week to a total of 349,000, but analysts noted that claims offices in California were open for only four days last week because of a state holiday.

The four-week average for claims, which gives a better picture of labor market trends, rose to 360,500. That was the highest level since claims spiked in October 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Analysts said the rise in the four-week average was depicting a labor market that is coming under increasing strains because of the slowing economy.

The economy shed 17,000 jobs in January, the first monthly job loss in more than four years. Analysts believe that the unemployment rate, which currently stands at 4.9%, will rise to 6% before the current slowdown has run its course.

PAYROLL JOBS CUT IN JANUARY

For the first time since August of 2003, there was a loss in payroll jobs according to the Department of Labor report issued this morning. The unemployment rate fell to 4.9% from 5.0%, a modest improvement, but nearly all other news in the report was negative. For the 19th straight month manufacturers cut jobs, this time 28,000.

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics at bls.gov:

The small January movement in nonfarm payroll employment (-17,000) reflected declines in construction and manufacturing and job growth in health care.

In 2007, payroll employment increased by an average of 95,000 jobs per month. Both construction and manufacturing employment continued to decline in January, and health care employment rose.

Construction employment decreased by 27,000 in January and has fallen by 284,000 since its peak in September 2006. Over-the-month job losses occurred in residential building (-10,000) and residential specialty trade contractors (-18,000).

Manufacturing lost 28,000 jobs in January. Over the month, small declines occurred among many durable and nondurable goods industries. Manufacturing has lost 269,000 jobs over the past 12 months.

In the service-providing sector, health care employment continued to grow in January (27,000), about in line with average monthly gains over the prior 12 months. Within health care, over-the-month job gains occurred in ambulatory health care services (14,000), which includes offices of physicians, and in hospitals (10,000).

From Reuters:

The Labor Department report on Friday came in much weaker than anticipated by analysts surveyed by Reuters, who had forecast 80,000 jobs would be added last month.

"We are on the brink of a recession now," said Daniel North, chief economist for Euler Hermes ACI in Owings Mill, Maryland. "The job market is always a lagging indicator. This is a nail-in-coffin."

The report shocked financial markets.

The U.S. dollar fell sharply against other major currencies. U.S. equity index futures pared their big earlier gains and U.S. government debt prices cut earlier losses.

MIXED EMPLOYMENT REPORT ISSUED

From The New York Times:

Two distinctly different views of the economy emerged today in a single report: the crucial employment survey issued by the Labor Department.

The economy added 166,000 jobs in October, the fastest pace in five months, according to employers. Payrolls grew at a pace more than twice what analysts had predicted, led by a sharp increase in the service sector.

But a survey of consumers showed that fewer Americans were employed last month over all. The labor force shrank by 211,000 jobs, and 465,000 Americans said they were no longer working.

The mixed employment report underscores the uncertainty on Wall Street, as analysts insist the fourth quarter will include a broad slowdown in growth and spending even as some recent reports suggest a sunnier outlook.

“You’ve got what’s good and what’s scary about this economy in this one report,” said Jared Bernstein, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

The estimate of job growth, which beat even the highest estimates, follows a downwardly revised 96,000 gain in September and a 93,000 gain in August, the Labor Department said. Still, payrolls are increasing at the slowest annual rate since June 2004.

The unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent in October, the highest rate since August 2006, but only because the survey found that more people stopped looking for work and were therefore not counted by the government as unemployed.

Manufacturing and retail jobs dropped sharply in October, underscoring analysts’ expectations that consumer spending and business activity will slow in the fourth quarter as problems in the housing market affect the broader economy.

Wages ticked up 0.2 percent, to $17.58, slightly below expectations, and are up 3.8 percent compared with those a year earlier. The length of the average workweek stayed flat at 33.8 hours.

Adding to the uncertainty about the report, most of the job gain — 103,000 of the 166,000 net new jobs — came from an estimate that the Labor Department makes each month about how many jobs were added by new businesses. The Labor Department did not actually find evidence of these jobs; it assumed they were created based on historical patterns.

SEPTEMBER JOBS REPORT MODESTLY POSITIVE DESPITE SMALL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE INCREASE

You can view the official release at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

From USA Today:

Employers added 110,000 workers in September, fastest rate in four months, but the unemployment rate ticked up to the highest level in more than a year as companies didn't add enough jobs to absorb a steady stream of people coming into the labor force.

The numbers suggest that the job market, although it has lost some steam, is still relatively healthy.

"Slowdown in place — but no collapse nor recession," Wachovia chief economist John Silvia said in a note to clients.

The seasonally adjusted 110,000 workers that companies and the government added in September was the biggest increase since May, the Labor Department said. And in a big reversal, the department revised its estimate of job creation in August to a positive 89,000 after saying last month that employers cut workers for the first time in four years.

But despite the payroll gains, the unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in September from 4.6% in August, to the highest rate since August 2006. The increase came as the number of people entering the labor force jumped in September after dropping in August. While most of those people were hired, not everyone was able to find work.

HORRIBLE EMPLOYMENT REPORT CAUSES CONCERN

The Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its August Employment Situation Report today. It provided plenty of bad news.

From USA Today:

Employers cut 4,000 jobs in August, the first time in four years that monthly hiring contracted, the government said Friday in a report certain to boost pressure on Federal Reserve policymakers to cut interest rates.

In addition to the August job losses, the Labor Department revised down its estimates for hiring in June and July by a total of 81,000. It said 68,000 jobs were added in July rather than 92,000 and 69,000 in June instead of 126,000.

Economists polled a week ago by Reuters had forecast 110,000 jobs would be created in August, but many analysts had scaled back their expectations since then amid increasing signs the job market was coming under strain.

The surprisingly bleak August jobs report was a stark sign that a painful credit crunch that has unnerved Wall Street is putting a strain on the national economy. The last time the economy shed jobs was in August 2003, when 42,000 jobs were cut.

Job losses in August were concentrated in the goods-producing sector. A whopping 46,000 manufacturing jobs were cut, the most since an 86,000-job cut in July 2003. Construction businesses shed another 22,000 jobs, up from 14,000 that were lost in July.

Service industries added 60,000 jobs in August.

Those with jobs, however, did see modest wage gains.

Average hourly earnings rose to $17.50 in August, a 0.3% increase from July. That matched economists' forecasts. Over the past 12 months, wages are up 3.9%. Wage growth supports consumer spending, a major ingredient for a healthy economy.

JANUARY UNEMPLOYMENT RISES TO 4.6%

The Department of Labor released the January 2007 unemployment data today showing that unemployment rose from 4.5% in December to 4.6%. Some highlights of the report:

• 111,000 net new jobs were added to non-farm payrolls, 104,000 of those in the service sector.
• 16,000 factory jobs were lost in January, the seventh straight monthly decline.
• 22,000 construction jobs were added in January.
• Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% to $17.09 per hour.
• Over the past year, hourly and weekly earnings have risen 4%.
• The unemployment rate for Hispanics rose to 5.7% from 4.9% in December.
• The unemployment rate for African Americans dropped to 8% from 8.4%.
• The unemployment rate for whites rose to 4.1% from 4%.

USA Today
WSJ.com