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Labor Statistics posts

Tell-Tale Stat: Job Snap-Back Slow in Past 2 U.S. Recessions

Posted May 7th 2010 6:00PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Employees, Economic Data, Recession

Investors, and certainly those adults who've experienced a job loss during the recession, don't need to be snow-stormed with data to know how severe the U.S. recession has been.

Even so, the New York Times (NYT) has published a telling chart. Starting with the 1974-1976 recession, the chart tracks the ratio of that month's non-farm payrolls to non-farm payrolls at the start of the recession. Basically, the chart is a ratio of how many jobs the U.S. economy added per month in the recession vs. monthly job creation at the start of the recession.

Continue reading Tell-Tale Stat: Job Snap-Back Slow in Past 2 U.S. Recessions

U.S. Employment Situation: The Worst Is Over

Posted Apr 5th 2010 5:00PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Good news, Employees

Periodically in economic analysis, you have to pull the lens back to see the bigger picture, and that's certainly the case with the U.S. job market. The most recent report from the U.S. Labor Department revealed that the world's largest economy added 162,000 jobs in March.

At first glance, in an economy that had lost 8.5 million jobs in the most severe recession since the Great Depression, a net gain of 162,000 jobs is a minuscule amount.

Continue reading U.S. Employment Situation: The Worst Is Over

Closing Bell: As The Market Nears 11,000 (F, RIMM, AAPL)

Posted Apr 1st 2010 4:20PM by Douglas McIntyre (RSS feed)
Filed under: After the Bell, Apple Inc (AAPL), Ford Motor (F), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Research in Motion (RIMM), Economic Data, S and P 500, DJIA, NASDAQ

There was plenty of good news today, but the market barely kept its head above water. After a promising start, most of the indexes closed near the flat line. Most of the economic data was good. The ISM hit a six year high of 59.6% and weekly jobless claims fell by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 435,000.

Those two pieces of news were offset by an announcement from Challenger Gray that its research showed March job cuts. Inflation also began to be a bother, at least on paper. The ISM data showed higher prices where paid for raw goods bought by most manufacturers. Oil moved to $85.

Today's unofficial closing numbers:

Dow 10,927.07 +70.44 (0.65%)
S&P 500 1,178.10 +8.67 (0.74%)
Nasdaq 2,402.58 +4.62 (0.19%)

Continue reading Closing Bell: As The Market Nears 11,000 (F, RIMM, AAPL)

The Unemployment Report: Wall Street breathes a sigh of relief!

Posted Aug 1st 2008 2:30PM by Douglas S. Roberts (RSS feed)
Filed under: Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Economic Data, Headline News, Federal Reserve, Recession

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the July Employment Report -- it was a mixed bag. Wall Street, concerned that the report would be much worse than expected, promptly breathed a sigh of relief with equity futures rallying after the release.

July nonfarm payroll employment was down by 51,000, which was less than expected. In addition, June unemployment was revised upward from -62,000 to -51,000. However, the unemployment rate was 5.7%, rising from 5.5% and was higher than expected. Hourly earnings rose by 0.3%, which was in line with expectations. Job losses were across the board, with the exception of job increases in healthcare and mining.

There was no real indication of any improvement in the economy. Why then did Wall Street react so positively? There is a huge fear that the economy is about to crash into a deep recession. This report gave at least some short-term comfort that the economy, although deteriorating, is muddling along.

Continue reading The Unemployment Report: Wall Street breathes a sigh of relief!