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Tag: jobs numbers
Economy Adds 288,000 Jobs In April; Unemployment Rate Down To 6.3 Percent

Economy Adds 288,000 Jobs In April; Unemployment Rate Down To 6.3 Percent

WASHINGTON — Hiring surprisingly surged last month as the economy added 288,000 net new jobs — the best performance in more than two years — and the unemployment rate dropped to 6.3 percent, its lowest level since September 2008, the Labor Department said Friday.

Job-creation figures for February and March were also revised upward by a combined 36,000, meaning the economy has added a monthly average of about 214,000 positions this year. The revised figure for March was 203,000.

Economists had expected a more modest pickup, with the economy adding 215,000 net new jobs in April and the unemployment rate dropping just a tenth of a percentage point to 6.6 percent.

The last time the economy added more jobs than last month was in January 2012.

Job growth slowed during the winter as unusually harsh weather took a toll on the economy. The Commerce Department said this week that the economy expanded at just a 0.1 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year.

Some of April’s large jobs growth was the labor market catching up from the winter slowdown, said Bart van Ark, chief economist at the Conference Board.

“But that is only one part of the story,” he said. “Indeed, the more important part is that the economy has been gathering strength for some time. “

He predicted continued strong job growth through the spring and maybe into the summer.

The private sector added 273,000 net new jobs in April and government added 15,000.

The large drop in the unemployment rate — to 6.3 percent in April from 6.7 percent the previous month — came in part because of people dropping out of the workforce. The labor force participation rate fell to 62.8 percent, from 63.2 percent in March, after three months of gains.

The April jobs report came amid mixed signs about the strength of the economy in a year most economists had predicted growth would accelerate.

Consumer spending jumped by 0.9 percent in March, the best performance since 2009 and a surge that should have helped spur job creation last month.

But initial claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to a two-month high of 344,000. It was the third straight weekly increase after hitting the lowest level since 2007, indicating job cuts picked up in April.

AFP Photo/Mark Wilson

Economy Adds 192,000 Jobs; Unemployment Rate Holds Steady At 6.7 Percent

Economy Adds 192,000 Jobs; Unemployment Rate Holds Steady At 6.7 Percent

By Don Lee, Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy added a fairly solid number of new jobs in March as employers reverted to their average pace of hiring after the unusually harsh winter weather.

The Labor Department said Friday that the economy created a net 192,000 new jobs last month, just about as many as in February and the average for all of last year. Economists had forecast job growth of about 200,000 for last month.

The nation’s jobless rate held steady at 6.7 percent in March, but the broader measure of unemployment and underemployment, including part-time workers who want full-time jobs, edged up to 12.7 percent.

Labor Department officials revised up the job-growth numbers for the prior two months — to 197,000 for February, from 175,000 previously estimated; and to 144,000 for January, from an initial tally of 129,000.

With those changes, the economy added an average of 178,000 jobs in the first quarter. That is down from the 194,000 average for last year, but analysts expect job growth to pick up some as employers step up hiring after delays caused by the cold weather across the much of the nation.

Job growth last month was led by business services, which boosted payrolls by 57,000. Half of those gains were at temporary-help firms, another sign that stronger hiring may be in store this spring.

The construction industry added 19,000 jobs, about the same as in February, but hiring in manufacturing was lackluster.

Retail trade rebounded by adding 21,300 jobs, and restaurants continued to hire aggressively last month. Government payrolls were flat.

The length of the average workweek, meanwhile, rose to 34.5 last month from 34.3 in February, the likely result of workers’ hours being restored after being cut by the cold weather.

Average hourly earnings for private-sector employees fell by a penny, to $24.30. Compared with a year ago, earnings were up 2.1 percent, a little more than the rate of inflation.

(For The Record, 6:17 a.m. PDT April 4: An earlier version of this post stated government figures for March showed that average hourly earnings for private-sector employees rose by a penny, to $24.30. They fell by a penny to $24.30.)

AFP Photo/Joe Raedle

Economy Adds 175,000 Jobs In February; Unemployment Rate Up To 6.7 Percent

Economy Adds 175,000 Jobs In February; Unemployment Rate Up To 6.7 Percent

By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — The economy added 175,000 net new jobs last month, a surprisingly robust figure given the bad winter weather, the Labor Department said Friday.

Despite the increase — the largest in three months — the unemployment rate ticked up 0.1 percentage points to 6.7 percent after hitting a more than five-year low in January.

The February job-creation figure was a significant improvement over the 129,000 net new jobs added in January, which was revised up from an initial estimate of 113,000.

The Labor Department also upwardly revised its job-creation estimate for December, meaning the economy added a total of 25,000 more jobs in those two months than initially thought.

Economists had projected the report would show 150,000 net new jobs in February, and that the unemployment rate would remain at 6.6 percent.

The private sector added 162,000 net new jobs last month, and government added 13,000, the Labor Department said. Construction companies increased their payrolls by 15,000 and manufacturers by 6,000.

Retail employment was down by 4,000 jobs.

The percentage of people in the workforce held steady at 63 percent, a low figure historically. The average workweek shrank by 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours, but average hourly earnings rose by 9 cents to $24.31.

Friday’s report noted that “severe winter weather occurred in much of the country” during the weeks the Labor Department surveys households and businesses. However, the overall effect was unclear.

Weather problems normally cause a reduction in average weekly hours, the Labor Department said.

The uncertainty over the weather’s effect led economists to have an unusually wide range of estimates for the February jobs number — from 80,000 to 203,000.

The jobs report follows some recent weak economic data. Automatic Data Processing estimated this week that the private sector added a disappointing 139,000 net new jobs last month, below analyst forecasts.

The Institute for Supply Management said growth in the important service sector fell to a four-month low in February, and the firm’s purchasing managers index for employment in the sector fell into negative territory for the first time in two years.

AFP Photo/Joe Raedle

Job Growth Remains Weak In January; Unemployment Rate Falls To 6.6 Percent

Job Growth Remains Weak In January; Unemployment Rate Falls To 6.6 Percent

By Don Lee, Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Job growth was sluggish in January for the second straight month, the government said Friday in a report likely to heighten concerns that the economy and labor market recovery may be faltering again.

The report could also give the Federal Reserve second thoughts about continuing to pull back on its stimulus program aimed at holding down long-term interest rates.

Employers added a net 113,000 new jobs in January, far below many analysts’ expectations that hiring had bounced up to 180,000 or more after the surprisingly weak performance in December.

Job growth averaged 194,000 a month last year and 186,000 in 2012, according to revised figures released Friday.

Economists had largely dismissed the poor December jobs report, chalking it up to unusually cold weather, and some were expecting the Labor Department on Friday to revise higher the initial December tally of just 74,000 new jobs. But that figure was adjusted upward by only 1,000. November’s job growth was revised up by 33,000, to 274,000.

Despite last month’s sluggish job growth, the nation’s unemployment rate again edged lower, to 6.6 percent in January from 6.7 percent in December. That is the lowest since October 2008. The jobless figure has dropped sharply since October when it was 7.2 percent.

The unemployment rate is calculated using a separate survey of households, which sometimes doesn’t match up with the payroll job counts that come from a survey of employers. Based on the household survey, the employment picture for January looked considerably brighter. Unlike previous months, workers did not drop out of the labor force in January, according to this survey.

However, analysts put more weight on the larger survey of payroll job changes. By that measure, the last two months suggest that the economy and jobs recovery are slowing again, which could complicate the policy decision-making for the Fed.

The Fed has begun withdrawing its bond-buying stimulus on the thinking that the economy had finally reached a sustained level of improved growth, but a series of weaker-than-expected economic data of late — including figures on car sales, manufacturing and trade — have shaken confidence.

Weather did not appear to be a major factor in the January job numbers as construction showed a very strong rebound, adding 48,000 to its payrolls over the month. Manufacturing also turned in a solid January, increasing employment by a net 21,000. The industry that includes hotels and restaurants added 24,000 jobs.

But the rest of the private service sector had a dreadful month. The retail industry lost 12,900 jobs in January and, for the second straight month, the once-booming healthcare sector was flat. Adding to the hiring woes, federal, state and local governments all cut back for a total loss of 29,000 jobs.

Temporary-help businesses, considered a harbinger of future hiring, added a net 8,100 jobs in January. The average hourly work week, another leading indicator, was flat at 34.4. Average hourly earnings for all private-sector employees went up 5 cents from December to $24.21. That was up 1.9 percent from a year earlier, just a little ahead of inflation.

AFP Photo/Matt Sullivan