Non-farm payroll employment fell by 54,000 jobs in August and as some expected employment to fall by about 120,000 jobs this was good news. The US needs to create about 150,000 to 200,000 jobs each month the US needs to supply between 150000 and 200000 new jobs to just maintain a steady unemployment rate due to new people entering the workforce. charts below from rttNews
While employment fell by less than expected, the unemployment rate still edged up to 9.6% in August from 9.5% in July.
First-time claims for unemployment benefits were down a bit in the week ended August 28th with the decrease offsetting an upward revision to the previous week’s data. The Labor Department said that initial jobless claims edged down to 472,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 478,000.
Labor productivity in the second quarter fell by much more than had originally been estimated. The report this week showed that labor productivity in the second quarter fell by a revised 1.8% compared to the previously reported 0.9% drop. Meanwhile the Labor Department said that the increase in unit labor costs was upwardly revised to show 1.1% growth compared to the more modest 0.2% increase that had been reported previously. The upward revision to the pace of labor cost growth was in line with economist estimates.
An index of home purchase contracts for previously owned dwellings unexpectedly increased 5.2% in July over June, the National Assn. of Realtors said Thursday, a modest note of good news for the U.S. housing market. The pickup in contracts, which typically take about one or two months to convert into closed deals, or sales, follows two consecutive months of declines and a report last week that sales of previously owned homes plunged 27.2% in July.
ABC News reported on Tuesday that its weekly index of U.S. consumer confidence fell in the latest week, remaining deeply in negative territory. The ABC Consumer Comfort Index fell to -45 for the week ended Aug. 29 from -44 in the previous week. a separate report – But in another report – The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® which had declined in July, improved moderately in August. So take your pick consumer confidence is either up or down.
The Institute for Supply Management’s “Purchasing Managers Index,” which reflects the percentage of purchasing managers reporting better business conditions than in the previous month, registered 56.3 percent, up from 55.5 percent in July, and the 16th consecutive month of readings over 50 percent, a level that indicates growth in the manufacturing sector. There are many questionable things about this repot on one can google it learn more.
This chart and others are at the website of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and it shows the 11 recessions since World War 2. Across the bottom are the number of months since the beginning of each recession and vertically is the percentage change in employment. The black dots are when the recession officially ended, and this current recession, though officially has ended, has had the largest decline in employment while the others had by this many months already gone back to their starting employment levels – except for one from 2001.
Stocktiger.net
