unemployment rate

Jobs Report Shows 171,000 New Jobs, Rate Slightly Higher at 7.9%

November 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Wall StreetThe stock market is set to open higher today on news that 171,000 jobs were added in October. The unemployment rate did rise slightly to 7.9% though. This increase in the unemployment rate can be attributed to more people coming back into the jobs market looking for jobs. Economists were only expecting about 125,000 new jobs after September’s 114,000 figure.

The services sector made up much of the jobs figure, accounting for 150,000. Government employment rolls saw a 13,000 decrease. according to the Labor Department. The improving economic reports across the board have investors and analysts optimistic about the upcoming holiday season, which usually sees a huge increase in seasonal hiring. [Read more...]

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Jobs Numbers See Big Jump, 243,000 Jobs Added

February 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Job creation saw a big jump in January with 243,000 new jobs added. This helped lower the unemployment rate to 8.3%. These numbers blew away estimates of 150,000 and an unemployment rate of 8.5%. Stocks rallied on this news with the major indexes all up about 1% or more.

“What’s not to like about the report?” said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak in New York. “Not only did payrolls exceed forecasts…but between the November and December revisions employers added 160,000 more jobs than first thought.”

According to the report released this morning, the work week remained unchanged at 34.5 hours while wages rose $0.04 on average an hour to $23.39.

Labor-force participation fell last month to 63.7%, the lowest since May 1983. 1.25 million fewer people are in the workforce in December. Analysts focus on these numbers because it could mean the drop in the unemployment rate isn’t really a drop.

“Looking beyond these statistical quirks, watching the unemployment rate drop five months in a row is rare event, and our expectation is that the unemployment rate rises in the immediate-term,” said Neil Dutta, economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The primary job gains came from the service sector in January. This includes retail and the food and beverage industries. The service sector added 162,000 of the 243,000 jobs last month.

This also has political ramifications as well with this being an election year. “The pattern is definitely indicating the economy is improving,” Alan Kreuger, chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, told CNBC. Republicans on the other hand balked at the numbers saying the economy is still in need of repair.

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Weekly Jobless Claims Fall Again

February 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The jobs market continues to show signs it is turning around as weekly claims fell again last week. Initial claims for unemployment dropped 12,000 to 367,000 according to the Labor Department. The week before saw claims revised slightly higher to 379,000 from 377,000. Jobless claims have held below 400,000 for 8 of the last 10 weeks, below a level typically used as a sign of an improving jobs market.

Economists were expecting a very slight drop to 375,000 last week. The four week moving average for jobless claims, which is used to smooth out volatility, fell to 375,750.

The jobs market has seen momentum in the past few months with the unemployment rate dropping to 8.5% in December. One thing to remember though is that when someone stops looking for a job because they have been unemployed for so long they are no longer counted.

The jobs market has a long way to go though as 23.7 million Americans are either unemployed or underemployed. Last week, the Federal Reserve acknowledged the improvement in the jobs market, but said the jobless rate is still too high. They will likely keep overnight lending rates near zero through at least 2014.

Productivity saw an increase, but was lower than expected. It increased at an annual rate of 0.7%, economists were expecting it to grow at 0.8%.

The Dow is trading flat right now despite the positive news from the jobs market. The Dow is up 8 points right now, the Nasdaq is up 13 points and the S&P 500 is up 3 points.

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Private Sector Creates 170,000 Jobs In January

February 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The private sector created 170,000 jobs last month and saw a boost in service-sector employment. This according to a report from ADP and Macroeconomic Advisors. The ADP number was near the consensus estimates as economists wait to see what the overall growth was for January when the government releases its report on Friday.

The ADP report which does not include government workers is typically higher than the Labor Department numbers during the economic slowdown.

The 170,000 jobs created last month is a nearly 20,000 increase from January, but lower than the 241,000 created in December. The number was higher in December due to companies hiring temporary holiday workers.

“We can’t have a sustained economic recovery that proceeds on the backs of the goods-producing sector alone,” Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisors, said in a CNBC interview. “There simply are not enough jobs in manufacturing to power the overall unemployment number. We need to see good, healthy gains in the service economy.”

Economists are expecting the Labor Department to report nonfarm payrolls jobs of 159,000 and will keep the unemployment rate steady at 8.5%.

Futures have held their gains this morning following the jobs numbers and the market is set to open 0.5% higher.

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Weekly Jobless Claims Come In At 352,000, Lowest In 4 Years

January 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Workers seeking unemployment benefits fell to a near four year low last week at 352,000. This is even more evidence that the jobs market is showing strength. The Labor Department said weekly unemployment applications fell 50,000 last week and is the biggest such drop in over six years. The four week average of unemployment claims, which helps gives a better look at the overall jobs market fell to 379,000. This is the lowest it has been in over three years.

A spokesman for the Labor Department did caution however that volatile swings in jobs numbers are common this time of year. Just a few weeks ago we saw applications jump to nearly 400,000 as companies laid off holiday workers. Any number below 375,000 is typically a signal that hiring is enough to lower the unemployment rate.

Some analysts agreed with the Labor Departments warning of seasonal volatility, but also saw the numbers as a positive. Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchage, commented, “We have to see if there are some seasonality issues involved here, but on the surface this number looks to be very positive and is pretty much consistent with other data we’ve seen recently that suggest improvement in underlying fundamentals in the U.S.”

This news along with other factors is pushing the market slightly higher in midday trading. The Dow is up 24 points, the Nasdaq is up 19 points and the S&P is up 5 points.

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Global Markets Have Best Week Since 2009

December 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Markets around the world had their best week in more than 2 years following a coordinated move early in the week by central banks to cut borrowing costs for banks. The jobs reported late in the week also gave investors confidence that the U.S. economy will avoid another recession. And finally signs that Europe is working hard to get a deal ahead of a December 9 summit, which has been viewed as a make or break summit, also helped the markets.

On Friday, stocks ended the day flat after giving up nearly all of their gains as traders took profits ahead of the weekend. News of the unemployment rate dropping from 9% to 8.6% sent stocks up out of the gates, but soon came back down as investors realize the drop in the unemployment rate came from unemployed workers not looking for jobs anymore not the 120,000 job gain.

The week ahead will be all about Europe as the European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates again next week. This will weaken the euro and make higher-yielding currencies more attractive.

“People have been playing up the fact that the euro zone is running out of time because their steps have been incremental and not big enough to calm fears,” said Mark McCormick, currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York. “They are making progress, but everyone is looking for a game-changer.”

Gold prices rose the past week as well and saw its largest weekly gain in over a month. Gold was up 0.2% at $1,746.

Oil prices moved higher as well as a lower unemployment rates means more demand for oil, and tensions in Iran have increased over its nuclear program raising fears of supply disruptions.

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Weekly Jobless Claims Rise Over 400,000

December 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Labor Department reported today that nn the week ending November 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 402,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 396,000. The 4-week moving average was 395,750, an increase of 500 from the previous week’s revised average of 395,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.0 percent for the week ending November 19, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s unrevised rate.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 19 was 3,740,000, an increase of 35,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,705,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,683,250, an increase of 8,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,675,000.

The states reporting the highest number of new claims were Alaska, Oregon, and California, along with the northeastern states states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

A Labor Department official said there was nothing unusual in the data, although government statisticians had to estimate claims data for Alaska and Washington DC. Initial claims below the 400,000 mark are normally seen as pointing to some healing in the jobs market.

A total of 7.01 million people claimed unemployment benefits under all programs during the week ending Nov 12, up 276,832 from the prior week.

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