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The U.S. employment picture is looking decidedly brighter at the end of 2012 than it did a year ago. For its final report of the year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says the unemployment rate dropped in 45 states in November; nowhere did it rise.
Articles tagged 'unemployment'
Employment Up; Unemployment Drops In Most States
by 
John Zappe
on Dec. 25, 2012
John Zappe
on Dec. 25, 2012
Analyst Says Temps Could Be 50% Of The Workforce
by John Zappe
on Aug. 28, 2012
John Zappe
on Aug. 28, 2012
The world is suddenly waking up to the discovery that employers are bringing on temp and contract workers at a pace that will soon surpass the peak numbers of 2006.
Subscribers to The Fordyce Letter first read about the surge in temp workers in the May issue. Following the release of the June employment numbers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, FordyceLetter.com reported, “There are now 2.534 million contract and temp workers in the U.S., a number just a few months shy of exceeding the all time high of 2.657 million reached in August 2006.”
Now, U.S. News says “Temp Workers Make Huge Comeback.” The article points out that the staffing industry has regained almost all the jobs lost in the recession, while other employers have added just over half the ones they shed. It’s not simply a sign of cautious employers bringing in extra help while waiting to see what the economy will do, but evidence of a trend.
Temp Hiring Resumes Upward Growth, But April Jobs Numbers Lack Luster
by John Zappe
on May 4, 2012
John Zappe
on May 4, 2012
Hiring by staffing and employment agencies continued its upward trajectory during April, but even the strong showing couldn’t overcome the generally sluggish hiring by American businesses last month.
The U.S. Department of Labor in its monthly report out this morning said 115,000 new jobs were created in April, well below the 160,000 or so that economists, on average, were expecting.
The report also showed the unemployment rate dipping from 8.2 percent to 8.1 percent, mostly due to workers leaving the labor force. The share of Americans now in the labor force is at the lowest level since 1981, the New York Times reported.
Hiring by staffing agencies alone added 21,000 jobs during the month. Hiring by employment services (nurse registries, etc.) accounted for just under 7,000 more.
Jobs Report: U.S. Adds 243,000 Jobs, Unemployment Rate Drops Again
by 
John Zappe
on Feb. 3, 2012
John Zappe
on Feb. 3, 2012
Strike up the band. Break out the confetti. The market’s going to love this. The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent and non-farm jobs grew by 243,000 in January.
This morning’s monthly report from the U.S. Department of Labor blasted through even the most optimistic of expectations. The jobs gain would have been the largest since May 2010, except that the Labor Department’s data group adjusted 2011′s jobs numbers. Now, only March (+246,000) and April (+251,000) had stronger numbers.
January is the second consecutive month to beat estimates. Economists predicted anywhere from MarketWatch’s tepid 121,000 to the more optimistic 182,000 in the Bloomberg survey. None of the widely reported surveys saw a decline in the unemployment rate.
Indeed, the unemployment rate, which has been declining very slowly since hitting a peak of 10.1 percent in late 2009, is now at the lowest point since February 2009. The government report also put the number of unemployed at 12.8 million. A year ago it was at 13.9 million.
While governments continued to cut jobs — federal jobs were cut by 6,000 and local government cut 11,000 positions — the private sector added 257,000. This was more than 50 percent higher than the ADP estimate earlier in the week.
ADP Report: 170k New Private Jobs In January
by John Zappe
on Feb. 2, 2012
John Zappe
on Feb. 2, 2012
HR services company ADP says the U.S. added 170,000 private sector jobs in January, providing more evidence that while the economy isn’t backsliding, it also isn’t advancing.
Indeed the January number came in below the average of 182,000, which is what economists in a Bloomberg survey were expecting. A Dow Jones Newswires survey however put the number right at 170,000.
The ADP report also adjusted down the December numbers from the initial 325,000 to 292,000. Nearly all the January gain, says ADP, came from companies with fewer than 500 workers, and all but 18,000 of the new jobs were in the service sector. Manufacturing added 10,000 workers during the month.
A year ago, ADP said 190,000 private sector jobs were created in January.
2011 Ends With Lowered Unemployment and 200,000 New Jobs
by John Zappe
on Jan. 6, 2012
John Zappe
on Jan. 6, 2012
Surprising economists and putting an upbeat end to 2011, the U.S. unemployment rate declined to 8.5 percent in December while the economy added 200,000 new non-farm jobs.
It was the fourth consecutive month of declines in the unemployment rate, and the sixth month of six-figure job growth. December’s unemployment rate is the lowest since early 2009.
The official numbers from the U.S. Department of Labor beat all but the most aggressive estimates. Economists were expecting the unemployment rate to rise, and predicted new job numbers in the 150,000 range.
Good News and Bad News: Unemployment Is Down, But Job Growth Is Short of Estimates
by John Zappe
on Nov. 4, 2011
John Zappe
on Nov. 4, 2011
The unemployment rate nudged down, but new jobs in October fell short of what economists expected, according to numbers released this morning by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Economists were expecting at least 100,000 new jobs to have been created last month. Instead, the numbers show only 80,000 new non-farm jobs, all of them coming from the private sector. Government at every level cut a total of 24,000 positions, continuing a trend that began mid-2008 at the state and local levels.
The New York Times described the increase as “mediocre,” and said the report offers little guidance about the direction of the U.S. employment outlook.
Despite the minor drop in the unemployment rate — from the 9.1 percent where it’s been since July, to 9.0 percent — the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said the total number of unemployed barely changed. In October, there were 13.9 million Americans out of work. In October, the number was almost 14 million.
ADP Report: Private Sector Jobs Continued Slow Growth in August
by John Zappe
on Aug. 31, 2011
John Zappe
on Aug. 31, 2011
If you subscribe to the notion that any growth in jobs is good, then today’s report from ADP will be encouraging. The payroll processor said 91,000 new private sector jobs were created in August.
That’s still less than the 100,000 economists were expecting, and it’s about a third of what the U.S. needs each month to bring down the unemployment rate. The company, and Macroeconomic Advisers, its partner in the monthly report, also adjusted downward its July estimate to 109,000 from the original 114,000.
In ever-so-cautious language, the report says that the slow job growth in August is “at a pace below what would be consistent with a stable unemployment rate.” That means that should the trend continue, unemployment may rise.
Economists expect that when the official employment numbers are released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor, they’ll show the 9.1 percent unemployment rate unchanged. New jobs are expected to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 75,000 (Bloomberg News) to 80,000 (Dow Jones Newswires).
Private Sector Job Growth Handily Beats Estimates, Buoys Markets
by John Zappe
on Jul. 8, 2011
John Zappe
on Jul. 8, 2011
News yesterday morning that new private sector jobs quadrupled in June over May’s anemic 36,000, while new unemployment claims dropped by far more than economists expected, sent stocks higher later in the day.
Payroll processor ADP said its analysis of job growth last month showed the economy added 157,000 private sector jobs. Economists were expecting, on average, that as little as half that many new jobs were added.
Meanwhile, initial claims for unemployment dropped last week by 14,000, to 432,000. That’s the lowest number of new claims in seven weeks and a sharper drop than the 3,000 or so predicted by economists. However, data collection was hampered by the holiday weekend, while Minnesota’s government shutdown added some 2,500 workers to the counts.
Still, the 4-week average of initial filings, a method for smoothing out weekly variations, declined to 424,750, a drop of 3,000 from the week before.
The two reports encouraged investors who bid up the Dow some 81 points at noon, New York time. All other major indices also saw gains.
Not Much Improvement Expected in June Jobs Report
by John Zappe
on Jul. 6, 2011
John Zappe
on Jul. 6, 2011
Indeed’s monthly job trends numbers are out, and if they are any indication of what’s ahead this week when official employment numbers are released, the news is going to be, ahem, mixed.
On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department will release its monthly employment report for June. Surveys of economists put June’s job in range from the 100,000 predicted by Bloomberg News to Marketwatch’s more optimistic 115,000.
Better than the 54,000 new jobs in May, the estimates are still well below the 182.2 thousand average of the first four months of the year. As a result, economists are not expecting any change in the 9.1 percent unemployment rate.
ADP’s National Employment Report, due out Thursday, will offer some guidance about the magnitude of the growth. Even though the reports measure employment differently, and rarely track perfectly, ADP report is closely watched by analysts and investors for signs of what to expect in the government’s Friday report.
