(05/07/10) "Jobs Growth! Employers Added Nearly 300,000 Jobs in April" (by Matthew Jaffe & Karen Travers, ABC News)

[Spang]

Better-than-Expected Report Reveals Strongest Job Growth In Last 4 Years, But Jobless Rate Rises to 9.9%

The nation's employers added 290,000 jobs to their payrolls in April, the biggest increase in four years and a massive boost for the country's battered labor market.

For the first time since December 2007, the nation has experienced job growth for two straight months, welcome news for a country that has lost nearly 8 million jobs since the recession started.

But it is also welcome news for the White House and Democrats in Congress hoping to hang onto their own jobs with elections coming up this fall.

President Obama will speak about the jobs report at 11 a.m. at the White House. The president had been scheduled to speak about the economy on Wednesday in New Jersey, but the White House cancelled the event. The White House has taken a slow-and-steady approach to job growth -- touting the modest improvements but also stressing that there is a long way to go before there is reason for celebration.

In addition to April's stronger-than-expected jobs report, one need look back no further than the month before the Obama administration took office to see signs of progress.

On Friday Dec. 5, 2008, White House economic adviser Christina Romer was pulled out of a meeting to brief then President-elect Obama on the half million jobs lost in November.

"I am so sorry," Romer told Obama. "The numbers are just horrible." Replied Obama, "It's not your fault -- yet."

Today, the jobs picture is far better, but at the same time still dire for millions of Americans. Despite the 290,000 jobs added in April, the nation's unemployment rate increased to 9.9 percent during the month, the result of the growing size of the labor force.

Other Forecasts Call for Even Greater Job Growth

There had been encouraging indications in recent weeks that April's report would be a strong one.

In the first three months of this year, the nation's economy grew at an annual rate of 3.2 percent, the third straight month of growth. Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity, increased by 3.6 percent in the first quarter, the biggest boost in three years.

The Complete Article (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jobs-growth-employers-added-300000-jobs-april/story?id=10582797)

[observer21]

Good news, but the unemployment rate still troubles me. Also, with all of the recent events that have had turbulent effects on the economies of the world, and those that are still waiting to happen, I only hope that this growth is sustainable and can eventually spur the unemployment rate to go down and get people jobs they need.

[foxyladi]

I,m happy for any good news :D

[RichardMZhlubb]

Good news, but the unemployment rate still troubles me. Also, with all of the recent events that have had turbulent effects on the economies of the world, and those that are still waiting to happen, I only hope that this growth is sustainable and can eventually spur the unemployment rate to go down and get people jobs they need.

The increase in the unemployment rate is actually a signal that things are picking up. The rate went up because 800,000 people who had stopped looking for jobs jumped back into the market. Enough jobs are being created and companies interviewing that those people saw reasons to start looking again.

[Spang]

When bad economic news is good news

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/assets_c/2010/05/jobandunem-thumb-454x282-19359.jpg

The unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent in April. But the economy added 290,000 jobs that month, which is a pretty good gain. On the face of it, that seems odd: Why would the unemployment rate rise while the country was adding jobs?

What you're seeing here is an artifact of the way we calculate unemployment. The unemployment rate is the percentage of the workforce actively looking for a new job but unable to find one. During long recessions, discouraged workers stop looking. They've already sent a résumé to every place in town, so there's really nothing to do but wait. When that happens, they drop out of the unemployment rate.

But now the economy is getting better and new employment opportunities are presenting themselves. Which brings us to the third relevant number: Labor force participation edged up by 0.3 percent. That is to say, workers returned to the economy. And that's why the unemployment rate rose: We're now adding enough jobs that previously discouraged workers are returning to the labor force to vie for them. But until they actually get one of those jobs, they go from being invisible in the unemployment data to one of the unemployed.

The Source (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/05/when_bad_economic_news_is_good_1.html)

[foxyladi]

grow grow grow your boat:D

[sisterrosetta]

grow grow grow your boat:D

Total government employment, which include state and local jobs, rose by 59,000, helped by the influx of the Census workers.

The decennial Census accounted for 66,000 of the employment boost last month.

As those jobs will be lost in the second half of the year, some economists cautioned not to read too much into the headline figure.

59,000 total public sector

***

Beyond government jobs, the report showed that the private sector created 231,000 jobs.

Manufacturing continued to trend up, rising by 44,000.

Construction, a sector that has been suffering, added 14,000 jobs in April.

231,000 total private sector

59,000 total public sector

290,000 total

This IS really fantastic news!


@};-

[Spang]

– Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN): These are mostly government jobs, you know…The idea that government grows the economy when all they really do is extract money from taxpayers, bring it into the bureaucracy and put it back out into the economy on a political agenda is not growth.

– Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY): The stimulus bill has done “little or nothing” to stimulate the private sector. “It probably did save a lot of state government jobs.”

– Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS): State government has benefited by the stimulus package, because it’s poured in billions of dollars. The problem is we need private sector jobs.

– Rep. John Boehner (R-OH): Most of the so-called jobs that have been saved or created are government jobs, even though the President promised that 90 percent of these jobs would be private sector jobs.

– Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA): We’ve got to begin focusing not just on jobs, but on private sector jobs.

The Source (http://thinkprogress.org/2010/05/07/gop-jobs-point/)

[Spang]

'Where are the jobs?' Glad you asked

Minority Leader John Boehner's response to President Obama's statement on unemployment Friday ended with Boehner's usual mantra on the economy: "Where are the jobs?"

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), running for Senate, sent out a release that said "Show me the jobs." (Get it?).

Actually, the jobs can be found right here in the Bureau of Labor Statistics release: there were 44,000 jobs added in manufacturing, 66,000 in government, 14,000 in construction and 45,000 added in the hospitality and leisure industry. All told, there were 290,000 new jobs added to the economy in April.

By contrast, Boehner's no. 2, Republican Whip Eric Cantor, acknowledged the positive trend yet sounded a more cautionary long-term note:

"An employment report that shows job growth is always a good thing, period. What concerns me, however, is whether we are creating long-term, sustainable jobs that will help America reclaim its place as the world’s sole economic superpower," Cantor said.

The Source (http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0510/Where_are_the_jobs_Glad_you_asked.html?showall)

[Spang]

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b35/Loompy/jobs.jpg

[VotingHillary]

Stephen Luebkert was laid off in March 2009 from a Boston-based semiconductor company. He lived for four months on his severance while he looked for another full-time job and eventually ended up working again for the same firm.

The difference is that now he is a contract employee. He no longer gets any of the perks of being a permanent worker, including paid vacations or sick days, health insurance or tuition assistance. And he estimates that he makes about 20 percent less — for the same job he was doing before.

The thing he misses most? “A feeling of security.”

As employers begin to cautiously hire again after the deepest economic downturn in a generation, Luebkert is in the vanguard of an emerging new contingent work force. For some businesses, these contingent workers could become a permanent solution, eliminating a huge swath of full-time jobs with benefits, say labor and business experts.

“It’s cheaper to hire contingent workers, but also more flexible for employers,” said Bill Kahnweiler, associate professor and human resource expert at Georgia State University’s Department of Public Management and Policy. Contingent workers allow companies to stay lean and avoid hiring more permanent workers. “If someone decides, ‘We need to be this size,’ it’s far easier to do that with contract workers and temps," Kahnweiler said.

But, this counts as a job. Welcome to "progress" in the 21st century. :thinking:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36826679/ns/business-careers/

[foxyladi]

people are hiring temps and part time so they don't get stuck providing the perks

[TheTaoOfBill]

people are hiring temps and part time so they don't get stuck providing the perks

One step at a time.

[TheTaoOfBill]

But, this counts as a job. Welcome to "progress" in the 21st century. :thinking:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36826679/ns/business-careers/

This is how it is after every recession.

[kyforhillary]

Hospitality and leisure.........summer temporary jobs.

[TheTaoOfBill]

Hospitality and leisure.........summer temporary jobs.

lol keep setting the bar higher and the we will keep surpassing it.

Despite what conservatives think, temp jobs play a VERY significant roll in our economy. There are hundreds of thousands of seasonal jobs for every season.

[Tybee]

lol keep setting the bar higher and the we will keep surpassing it.

Despite what conservatives think, temp jobs play a VERY significant roll in our economy. There are hundreds of thousands of seasonal jobs for every season.

Hey and guess what, Tao? ALL those people in temp jobs will be the ones that WE have to supply health insurance for. We're going to be just like Greece is now, cradle to the grave handouts for a bunch of lazy 'give me more' people. This is unsustainable. I warned about this months ago, any company that can will sub out whatever jobs they can, no benefits etc. No one besides the 'poor me' crowd wants to be under the thumb of big government.

[foxyladi]

a friend was bragging they have been on unemployment 56 weeks now yes he is eligible for the new extension.

[sojourner]

Don't get too excited about those added jobs.

Each month, as regular readers of this blog know, I unpack the data released by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to get beyond the headline unemployment rate number and find out what the numbers are really telling us.


The headlines this morning: The official U.S. unemployment rate rose from 9.7 percent in March to 9.9 percent in April, even as the economy added 290,000 jobs. This happened because a number of unemployed Americans who had stopped looking for work decided to try to re-enter the job force last month. They are called "discouraged" workers. They were not counted as unemployed because, according to the Labor Department, you're unemployed only if a) you're out of work and b) you've looked for work in the previous four weeks. A whole bunch of people who had stopped looking for work started again last month, increasing the size of the labor pool. Not all of them found work, so the unemployment rate ticked up.

That's good news, but that said, a truer measure of U.S. unemployment also increased last month. If you also include all of the people who are still discouraged and all of those who want to work full time but can find only part-time work, that unemployment rate in April was 17.1 percent, a rate that has increased since the beginning of the year and is approaching its all-time high of 17.4 percent, hit in October.

What's going on? If discouraged workers are re-entering the labor force, why is the higher unemployment rate still climbing?

The answer seems to be found among those who are forced to work part time but who want to work full time. That number has increased since the beginning of the year.

In January, Labor reported that 8.3 million Americans were working part time for economic reasons, meaning they could not find full-time work. That number increased to 8.8 million in February, 9.1 million in March and 9.2 million in April.

The number of discouraged non-employed Americans in April was 1.2 percent, up from 1.1 million in January.
Source (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/economy-watch/2010/05/truer_unemployment_rate_rises_2.html)

[foxyladi]

i was going to make that observation about the real number of unemployment

[Kbentleyis]

We didn't creep up to 9.9% unemployment because there is really good news out there.

BTW, those poor people who went for those Census jobs... go through training for a few days--work a week or two; then they're not called for days at a time. They're not making any money.

They can't file for unemployment because they're on the government work list, so money isn't coming into their pockets. Another government sham.

[foxyladi]

people on food stamps and other handouts are the highest in history.
now thats change i can do without bo:mad:

[Spang]

Editorial: Ohio leading U.S. recovery? Come again?

An editorial here on May 11 noted that, while the national economy added jobs in March, Ohio did not get its share. Seems like Ohio is always — or, too often, anyway — someplace near the bottom of national economic rankings, at least as to the direction of things.

So it should be noted that in April, when jobs materialized faster than in March nationally, Ohio got more than its share.

Remember reading that the country added a promising 290,000 jobs in April? Well, it turns out that Ohio led the nation, with 37,000. That is, it had more new jobs even than much bigger states.

It was the state’s biggest jump in 22 years.

The point is made here not to suggest that happy days are here again. It’s made with an eye on that old Ohio trend of bringing up the rear.

In some measure, the recent good news for Ohio results from progress in the manufacturing and auto sectors. Nationally, April was the best month that manufacturing has seen in 12 years, in job growth: 44,000.

But that may not be the entire explanation. After all, the good news came from all across the state. Construction, tourism, engineering and accounting all added jobs. Montgomery County and Dayton saw their unemployment rates drop a little, from very high levels. The Cincinnati region — 15 counties stretching up through Warren County — added 14,000 jobs.

So why did Ohio lead?

Maybe, Ohio will benefit from the fact that it has fallen so far and stayed down for so long. Maybe it will spring back harder.

Anecdotal evidence suggests this. A national law firm moves its back-shop activities to Kettering, seeking low expenses in an attractive, well-located place. Local promoters and businesses point to the particularly low cost of housing, office space and manufacturing space.

Meanwhile, the availability of good workers who have lost their jobs — whether blue collar or white collar — is seen as an asset from some perspectives.

The strength of the national economy will matter a lot for Ohio. On that score, it’s best not to assume much, what with Wall Street in turmoil because Europe is in turmoil.

The current upswing — modest, but entailing four months of job growth — pretty much obviates a debate about the need for a new national stimulus (not to mention the fact that President Barack Obama would have great difficulty selling any major new spending plan). Now the work seems to be up to forces beyond the federal government.

Meanwhile, many of the most striking stats suggest only a limited role for state and local governments in shaping the current scene. Michigan continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 14 percent. That’s not the fault of anybody in government in Michigan. It’s about cars.

North Dakota has the lowest, at 3 percent; that’s not because there’s something in the snow that makes people smart about economics.

In Ohio, Clinton County has the highest unemployment rate of any county, at 17.7 percent. That’s about a decision made by DHL, not local or state government.

As for Ohio as a state, it has spent much of this era in the same boat as Michigan, or at least the same fleet. The latest numbers suggest that if the worst is over for that fleet, the recovery here need not lag behind, after all.

The Source (http://www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2010/05/27/editorial_ohio_leading_us_reco.html)

[cindyb]

The Complete Article (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jobs-growth-employers-added-300000-jobs-april/story?id=10582797)

Unemployment is up in Nevada, unemployment in Las Vegas is +14%. Unemployment nationwide is up from 9.7% to 9.9%. I am betting they are trying REAL hard ;) to keep it under double digits.

So, how is this better again? :rolleyes:

[Spang]

So, how is this better again? :rolleyes:

Post #5 (http://www.commongroundpolitics.net/discussion/showpost.php?p=724836&postcount=5) has the answer you seek.

[Kelle]

lol keep setting the bar higher and the we will keep surpassing it.

Despite what conservatives think, temp jobs play a VERY significant roll in our economy. There are hundreds of thousands of seasonal jobs for every season.

I was going to ask what brand of polish you're using to shine this particular turd, since it seems to be waaaaay better than booze, drugs or my mind altering substance of choice, crappy carbs.

But then I found this CNN article:

(5/28/2010) Parish official: BP shipped in workers for president's visit http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/28/gulf.oil.spill.bp/index.html?hpt=T1
(CNN)

-- A Gulf Coast official accused BP of shipping workers into Grand Isle, Louisiana, for President Obama's visit to the oil-stricken area Friday and sending them away once the president left the region.

Early Friday morning, "a number of buses brought in approximately 300 to 400 workers that had been recruited all week," Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts told CNN's "Situation Room."

Roberts said the workers were offered $12 an hour to come out to the scene at Grand Isle and work.

But, when Obama departed, so did the workers, he said.
BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles downplayed the claim Friday evening, saying it is not unusual to see people wrapping up work in the afternoon.

"These individuals are working out in the heat of the sun. These are long days. They start early in the morning, and they stop early in the evening," he said. "So the fact that they were leaving the location late in the afternoon was not unusual. It's not associated with the president arriving."
Suttles added that the workers would be back Saturday morning to continue working.

Using the Obamath "Jobs Created" multiplier of 1.82% it looks like Obama is responsible for creating 728 jobs for a day. Heck, if BP is telling the truth they might get to work again tomorrow!!!

$12.00 an hour and all the tar balls you can carry!!!

kel

[Spang]

$12.00 an hour and all the tar balls you can carry!!!

kel

Cool, they got a raise. For awhile it was $10 an hour.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b35/Loompy/TenBucksAnHour.png

[Kelle]

Cool, they got a raise. For awhile it was $10 an hour.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b35/Loompy/TenBucksAnHour.png

Don't forget the tar balls.

I wonder if you can burn them for heat come winter time?

kel

[Spang]

"Don't go swimming in the South, you'll get tar balls in your mouth." - Jimmy Fallon

[foxyladi]

updating 7/21/11:(
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/21/us-usa-economy-idUSTRE7662I420110721