Job Market Trends
An advance look at how the economy was doing in the second quarter of 2017 indicates things were going better than they were in the January – March period.
According to the Commerce Department, real gross domestic product (GDP) -- the value of the goods and services produced by the nation’s economy -- grew at an annual rate of 2.6%, considerably better than the downwardly revised 1.2% rate chalked up in the first quarter.
Keep in mind that this set of figures is subject to...
There was a huge drop last week in the number of people filing initial applications for state unemployment benefits.
The Labor Department reports seasonally adjusted first-time claims totaled 233,000 in the week ended July 15 a drop of 15,000 from the previous week's revised, which was revised upward by 1,000.
The less volatile 4-week moving average, considered a more accurate barometer of the labor market, fell by 2,250 from a week earlier, was 243,750.
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Economic activity in the manufacturing sector of the economy grew in October at a rate that was slightly faster than the preceding month, as the overall economy grew for the 89th consecutive month.
The latest Manufacturing Institute for Supply Management (ISM) report on business shows the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose 0.4% last month to register 51.9%.
A reading above 50% indicates growth, while anything below that mark suggests contraction.
The New Orders Index sli...
Due partly to the loss of jobs in the goods-producing sector, the economy produced fewer private payroll positions in October than it did the month before.
According to the October ADP National Employment Report, which is produced by the ADP Research Institute and Moody's Analytics, just 147,000 new jobs were created last month -- 7,000 fewer than in September.
"Job growth remains strong although the pace of growth appears to be slowing,” said Moody's Analytics Chief Econ...
Even though the pace slowed, economic activity in the non-manufacturing sector grew in August for the 79th consecutive month.
According to the latest Non-Manufacturing Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Report On Business, the NMI registered 51.4% last month, down 4.1% from July.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while below that suggests contraction.
The New Orders Index dropped 8.9%, to 51.4%; the Employment Index registered 50.7%, off 0.7%; and the Prices Index...
The third and final look at how the nation's economy was doing in the second quarter is a bit brighter than the earlier estimates.
According to the Commerce Department, real gross domestic product (GDP) -- the value of the goods and services produced by the nation’s economy -- grew at an annual rate of 1.4%.
An earlier look at how the economy was performing put expansion at an annual rate of 1.1%. This latest estimate is based on more complete source data than was availabl...
Private sector employment eased a bit in September.
According to the ADP National Employment Report, produced by the payroll firm in collaboration with Moody's Analytics, the economy created 154,000 jobs from August to September.
There were 177,000 new jobs the month before.
"Job gains in September eased a bit when compared to the past 12-month average," said ADP Research Institute Vice President Ahu Yildirmaz. "We also observed softening this month in trade/transportation...
Employers across the U.S. announced plans to cut their workforces by 44,324 payroll positions in September -- up a whopping 38% from August.
Figures released by outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas show that despite the spike in terminations, cuts were down 25% from September 2015.
So far this year, employers have announced a total of 435,612 planned job cuts, 12% fewer than for the first nine months of the previous year.
“Heavy job cutting in the energy s...
September turned out to be something of a disappointment in terms of job creation.
The Department of Labor (DOL) reports employers added 156,000 private payroll positions last month after creating 167,000 jobs in August. The consensus forecast for September from Briefing.com was for 176,000 new jobs.
In addition, the unemployment rate edged up to 5.0% from the August reading of 4.9%. That translates to 7.9 million people who are out of work, a figure that has shown little...
Another month of expansion -- the fifth in a row -- for the manufacturing sector of the economy.
At the same time, according to the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) Report On Business, the overall economy grew for the 86th consecutive month.
The July Purchasing Manager's Index registered 52.6% last month – down 0.6% from June. A reading above 50% indicates growth, while anything below that mark suggests contraction.
The Orders Index dipped 0.1% to 56.9%, while the P...
The kids are on the job.
An analysis of government data by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas finds the number of teenagers finding summer jobs this year is up 15.4%, or 1.3 million, between May and July -- the highest level since 2013.
The summer total was helped by heavier-than-usual teen employment gains in July.
A total of 492,000 teens found jobs in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), up 33% from a year ago and 25% higher than the 392,...
Gains in construction, private educational services, and manufacturing helped push total nonfarm payroll employment up by 235,000 in February.
At the same time, according to the Department of Labor (DOL), the jobless rate ticked down a notch to 4.7%.
As it released its February figures, the government revised December's job creation down by 2,000 to +155,000; the change for January was revised up from +227,000 to +238,000. That means employment gains for those two months ...
Retail sales turned in an anemic performance in February, totaling $474.0 billion -- an increase of 0.1% from a month earlier but up 5.7% from a year earlier.
The Commerce Department report shows there were few, if any, stellar showings last month. Building material & garden equipment & supplies dealers led the way with a sales advance of 1.8%, followed by nonstore retailers (+1.2%), health & personal care stores (+0.7'%), and furniture and home furnishing stores (+0.7'%...
It won't be long before college students will be lining up by the thousands to receive their diplomas -- and then start the search for gainful employment.
As these three million young adults with freshly-minted associate or bachelor’s degrees enter what's called “the real world,” they should be in pretty good shape as far as job prospects go.
According to outplacement consultancy firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the employment outlook for the class of 2017 is on par wit...
The final look at the economy for the third quarter was generally dissatisfying.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reports the "third"estimate of real gross domestic product (GDP) -- the value of the goods and services produced by the nation’s economy less the value of the goods and services used up in production, adjusted for price changes -- increased at an annual rate of 2.0% after growing 2.1% in the “second” estimate and 3.9% in the second quarter.
All told, that...
We've seen growth for six years in a row for the non-manufacturing sector of the economy.
The latest Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Non-Manufacturing Report On Business put out the nation's supply executive and purchasing managers say the Non-manufacturing Index (NMI) registered 53.5% in January, down 2.3% from December. That's the lowest level in two years, but the 72nd consecutive month of growth.
The New Orders Index was down 2.4% to 56.5%, the Employment Index ...
Another 151,000 people found work in January, well below the pace of December in which 262,000 jobs were created. That December figure, by the way, was revised down by 30,000 from the initial estimate. Economists at Briefing.com had projected the creation of 188,000 jobs.
In its report, the Department of Labor (DOL) also said the unemployment rate inched down 0.1% to 4.9%.
Job gains occurred in several industries, including retail trade (+58,000), food services and drinki...