Eye On Housing
Payroll gains were strong and the unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point, .15 based on employment gains, 0.05 based on labor force defections. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Employment Situation report for September. The establishment survey showed payroll employment expanded by 248 thousand. The disappointing August gain was revised up from 142 thousand to a less… Read More ›
Job growth slowed and the unemployment rate ticked down; job growth is the more important signal. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Employment Situation report for August. The establishment survey showed payroll employment expanded by 142 thousand, well below expectations. The June figure was revised down from 298 thousand to 267 thousand, and July was revised up from… Read More ›
Job growth slowed and the unemployment rate ticked up but it’s still a decent report. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Employment Situation report for July. The establishment survey showed payroll employment expanded by 209 thousand. The May and June figures were revised upward by a total of 15 thousand, bringing them to 229 thousand and 298 thousand,… Read More ›
Surprising strength in payroll growth and another decline in the unemployment rate threaten to make this recovery begin to feel like a real recovery. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Employment Situation report for June. The establishment survey showed payroll employment expanded by 288,000. The April and May figures were revised upward by a total of 29,000, bringing… Read More ›
With the May numbers reported today payroll employment has officially surpassed the pre-recession peak of 138.365 million, by 98 thousand. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Employment Situation report for May. The establishment survey showed payroll employment expanded by 217,000. The April figure was revised down by 6,000 and the March figure was unchanged. From the household survey,… Read More ›
The unemployment rate plunged to 6.3% in April from 6.7% in March. But curb your enthusiasm, it’s not what you think. First, the numbers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Employment Situation report for April. The establishment survey showed payroll employment expanded by 288,000, and February and March were revised upward for a combined increase of 36,000. The… Read More ›
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Employment Situation report for February. The establishment survey showed payroll employment expanded by 175,000 in February and the prior two months were revised upward for a combined increase of 25,000. From the household survey, the unemployment rate reversed last month’s decline, rising back to 6.7% from 6.6% in January. The labor force… Read More ›
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Employment Situation report for January. The report was disappointing overall but had a mix of good, bad and extenuating circumstances to keep the labor market outlook in limbo for a second month. The establishment survey showed payroll employment expanded by 113,000 in January, following an upwardly revised 75,000 increase in December. The… Read More ›
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Employment Situation report for November. Payroll employment expanded by 203,000 and the prior two months were revised for a net increase of 8,000. The pattern in job growth is beginning to look like the substantial and sustained improvement in the labor market that the Federal Reserve has identified as the condition for… Read More ›
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Employment Situation report for October and the results are all over the map. Because of different definitions used in the surveys, the impact of the partial federal government shutdown was negligible in the establishment survey but substantial in the household survey. And unrelated to the shutdown and furloughed federal workers there was… Read More ›