BLS Employment Situation: 295,000 jobs added to the economy in February. Unemployment rate falls to 5.5%. Terrible news for republicans. Great news for Americans.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

The labor market is stronger than believed. Payroll jobs increased 295,000 in February after healthy increases of 239,000 in January and 329,000 in December. January and December were revised down a net 18,000. Market expectations for February were for a 230,000 increase.

The unemployment rate dipped to 5.5 percent from 5.7 percent in January. Analysts forecast 5.6 percent. The labor force participation rate edged down marginally to 62.8 percent from 62.9 percent in December.

Turning back to the establishment survey, private payrolls increased 288,000 in February after a 237,000 gain the month before. The median forecast was for 225,000.

Goods-producing jobs increased 29,000 after a 64,000 boost in January. Manufacturing increased 8,000 after rising 21,000 in January. Construction advanced 29,000 in February after gaining 49,000 the month before. Mining declined 9,000 after slipping 6,000 in the month before. The latest numbers indicated that the manufacturing and construction sectors are continuing modest improvement.

Private service-providing industries jumped 259,000 after a gain of 173,000 in January. In February, food services and drinking places added 59,000 jobs. In February, employment in health care rose by 24,000. Transportation and warehousing added 19,000 jobs in February and retail trade gained 22,000 jobs.

Government jobs rose by 7,000 in February after a rise of 2,000 the month before.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.1 percent, compared to 0.5 percent in January. Expectations were for a 0.2 percent gain. The average workweek held steady at 34.6 hours, equaling expectations.

Overall, the latest employment situation suggests the labor market is gradually gaining strength. The odds of a June rate increase by the Fed just went up.

It is amazing what a socialist community leader can do who was born in Kenya.

2seaoat wrote:It is amazing what a socialist community leader can do who was born in Kenya.

lol
Thank you President Obama!

Just look at all those jobs.

"Today's Jobs Report: Three Things That Haven't Changed
We learned this morning that the labor market continues to get stronger, with job growth and the unemployment rate solidly beating expectations.  Employers added 295,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate fell from 5.7% in January to 5.5% – the lowest it’s been since 2008. That’s real improvement."

But three important factors essentially remain unchanged: wage growth, long-term unemployment and workforce participation.

1) Wage Growth
Wage growth is still weak, meaning that improvements in the economy aren’t yet translating to people’s pocketbooks. Average hourly earnings for private sector employees rose by 0.1% in February, down from 0.5% in January. Hourly wages increased only 2% from a year ago – well below pre-recession rates.

2) Long-Term Unemployment
While the unemployment rate continues to drop, long-term unemployment remains stubbornly high. The number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or longer was 2.7 million in February compared to 2.8 million in January. Long-term unemployment has yet to come anywhere near pre-recession levels and remains as high as it was during the depths of the 1980s recession.

3) Labor Force Participation
The labor force participation rate fell slightly from 62.9% to 62.8%. It has hovered below 63% for 11 straight months and remains at its lowest point since 1978. Currently, there are 92.9 million Americans out of the labor force. Combine that with the 8.7 million Americans who are unemployed, and there are over 100 million Americans on the sidelines of our economy.

While the employment situation in the U.S. is improving in many ways, there is still reason for concern.  We will not have a robust recovery until wages grow, the long-term unemployed find jobs, and millions of Americans rejoin the workforce and contribute to the economy.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/abbymccloskey/2015/03/06/todays-jobs-report-three-things-that-havent-changed/

gatorfan wrote:"Today's Jobs Report: Three Things That Haven't Changed
We learned this morning that the labor market continues to get stronger, with job growth and the unemployment rate solidly beating expectations.  Employers added 295,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate fell from 5.7% in January to 5.5% – the lowest it’s been since 2008. That’s real improvement."

But three important factors essentially remain unchanged: wage growth, long-term unemployment and workforce participation.

1) Wage Growth
Wage growth is still weak, meaning that improvements in the economy aren’t yet translating to people’s pocketbooks. Average hourly earnings for private sector employees rose by 0.1% in February, down from 0.5% in January. Hourly wages increased only 2% from a year ago – well below pre-recession rates.

2) Long-Term Unemployment
While the unemployment rate continues to drop, long-term unemployment remains stubbornly high. The number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or longer was 2.7 million in February compared to 2.8 million in January. Long-term unemployment has yet to come anywhere near pre-recession levels and remains as high as it was during the depths of the 1980s recession.

3) Labor Force Participation
The labor force participation rate fell slightly from 62.9% to 62.8%. It has hovered below 63% for 11 straight months and remains at its lowest point since 1978. Currently, there are 92.9 million Americans out of the labor force. Combine that with the 8.7 million Americans who are unemployed, and there are over 100 million Americans on the sidelines of our economy.

While the employment situation in the U.S. is improving in many ways, there is still reason for concern.  We will not have a robust recovery until wages grow, the long-term unemployed find jobs, and millions of Americans rejoin the workforce and contribute to the economy.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/abbymccloskey/2015/03/06/todays-jobs-report-three-things-that-havent-changed/

For 1) we should boost the minimum wage for starters and then tie it to inflation. Beyond that, I'm not entirely sure what can be done to boost overall wages. Income inequality and the gross redistribution of wealth may have to be attacked through some other avenue, such as the tax code.

For 2) being it the case that the job market is fairly strong, and has been for quite some time now, it may be time to start tapering off extended unemployment benefits in order to provide greater incentive and a sense of urgency to the long term unemployed to actively seek work.

For 3) that isn't a legitimate issue. The LPR isn't as much of an indicator of the short term health of the labor market as it is a long term indicator of social trends, changing demographics, technological improvement, etc.