By now, most people following the economy know that the national unemployment rate dipped from 10.2 percent in October to 10.0 percent in November according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That dip has started quite a discussion over what it means.
My colleague Anthony Randazzo does a nice [...]
I stared at the Bureau of Labor Statistics page for 30 minutes this morning trying to figure out how the nation lost jobs last month but unemployment went down slightly. Turns out I'm not alone in being confused. Reddit has a complete thread on the topic. By the way,' [...]
SPEAKING of unemployment, here's my News analysis on the morning's payroll figures. The data were positive, but:
None of [...]
I REALISE readers may be growing tired of my focus on the Fed chief and his refusal to do his job, but his conduct [...]
There is big news in the world of jobs today, the number of lost jobs is getting smaller. The unemployment rate fell back to 10% in November after hitting 10.2% in the month prior. Only 11,000 jobs were lost in November — some 90,000 less than some economists had [...]
So a president early in his first term is faced with a recession that includes a stubborn unemployment rate. What does he do? Why he calls a conference on unemployment to bring together business, labor, and political leaders to figure out what should be done to solve the problem [...]
In a bit of a surprise turn, unemployment dipped slightly in November. Numbers released this morning show that unemployment fell from 10.2% to 10%, with workers cutting just 11,000 jobs last month. Some had expected as many as 130,000 jobs to be lost, which was roughly the average lost [...]
The Nov Payrolls fell only 11k, much better than expectations of a fall of 125k and the prior two months were revised up by 159k. The household survey rose by 227k after a decline of 589k in Oct and combined with a drop in the labor force sent the unemployment [...]
Today is the November Employment Situation Report.
Several factors suggest something not quite as “good” as the consensus expectations of a loss of 125k NFP. This is due to several factors: 1) The White House “leak” that unemployment will increase; b) A worse than expected ADP report; iii) Ongoing terrible Household [...]
Today's jobs report is genuinely encouraging, I think. Unemployment is down a little to 10%; employment is “essentially unchanged”, in the words of the release; payrolls in prior months were revised upwards; total hours worked went up; wages went up; what's not to like?
Still, it's early days yet, and [...]
As we await the official word on November's employment situation, Joe B. tells Bloomberg the jobless rate should peak around 11%.
Meanwhile, Mark Z. discusses the jobs dilemma with NPR's On Point.
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Today is the greatly anticipated White House Jobs Summit. Today is the day when unemployment will be fixed. Today is the day when we will get real solutions. You’d wonder why “today” didn’t come any sooner.
In reality, today’s gathering of business leaders, journalists, economists, and other demographics represents the next [...]
Today’s update on jobless claims strengthens the case for arguing that the Great Recession is over.
New filings for unemployment benefits dipped 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 457,000 for the week through November 28--the lowest since September 2008, the Department of Labor reports. The obvious caveat is that last [...]
THE Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest figures on metropolitan unemployment rates today, and it provides another [...]
HERE is Real Time Economics on the latest inflation scare-mongering out of a Fed leader:
Federal Reserve Bank of [...]
I agree with Paul Krugman on at least one thing: the continued prospects for high unemployment in America is a bad thing. In his NYT column yesterday, Krugman the Keynesian wrote:
The damage from sustained high unemployment will last much longer. The long-term unemployed can lose their skills, and even [...]The fact that the ARRA was not big enough to put the unemployment rate on a downward trajectory is unfortunate. But now CBO joins in with its assessment that it is indeed working.
Menzie Chinn writes:
Econbrowser: CBO's Assessment of ARRA's Impact on Q3 Output and Employment: From CBO's just' [...]
Here’s a letter that I sent yesterday to the New York Times:
Pleading for government to address today’s unemployment problem more vigorously, Paul Krugman writes that “The long-term unemployed can lose their skills, and even when the economy recovers they tend to have difficulty finding a job, because they’re regarded as [...]
EPI's American Jobs Plan:
Strengthen the safety net"
unemployment compensation COBRA health coverage nutrition assistance)Fiscal relief to state and local governments
Investments in transportation and schools
Direct creation of public service jobs
A new job creation tax credit.
"The American Jobs Plan... will create at least 4.6 million jobs in the first year, at a total' [...]
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