Jobs News

The Bureau of Labor Statistics just announced the U.S. economy created 235,000 jobs in February, slightly higher than most experts expected and much higher than President Barack Obama’s 187,000 average in 2016. But while the unemployment rate remained at a low 4.7 percent, the labor force participation rate, which measures the number of people leaving…

As the Obama administration recedes into history, policymakers would be well advised to rethink the feasibility of taxpayer-funded renewable energy schemes. In just a few weeks, the Solar Foundation, a Washington-based nonprofit group, will release its latest annual report touting growth figures for solar jobs while it also warns against policies that could result in…

November saw very little change in the U.S. labor market, according to a new employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employers added a net 178,000 new jobs while the unemployment rate dropped. However, unemployment fell in large measure due to a continued drop in labor force participation. The economy largely continued on its…

The labor market didn’t change much in October, according to today’s Bureau of Labor Statistics employment report. Unemployment and job creation have remained steady over 2016. Those trends continued last month. The household survey reported that unemployment fell by 0.1 percentage points, to 5.0 percent. However, this drop primarily occurred because over 400,000 Americans left…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ August employment report showed little change in the labor market. Employers added a net 151,000 jobs. That rate of job growth essentially keeps up with population growth. Unsurprisingly, then, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.9 percent. The labor force participation rate (62.8 percent) and employment-to-population ratio (59.7 percent) also…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ July jobs report contained little bad news. The bureau found that employers created a net 255,000 new jobs since June. Strong growth in the professional and business services (+70,000), health care (+49,000), leisure and hospitality (+45,000), and government (+30,000) sectors lead the way. (One exception was the mining sector, which…

The new jobs report shows employers cranked up hiring in June, creating 287,000 net new jobs. But the last jobs report, for May, showed the economy slowing to a crawl, with employers adding only 11,000 net new jobs in the month. What explains these large gyrations? Probably statistical noise.  Americans shouldn’t read too much into…

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama took an economic victory lap in Elkhart, Indiana. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ employment report, which came out Friday, shows he was far too optimistic. Both the household and payroll surveys showed employment growth slowing to a crawl in May, while hundreds of thousands of Americans stopped looking for work. Seven…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ April jobs report contained mixed economic news. The agency reported wages grew healthily, overall unemployment did not rise, and long-term unemployment fell slightly in April. At the same time, job growth slowed and labor force participation dropped. The labor market is not contracting, but it is not growing as quickly…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ December employment report showed robust labor market growth. The headline numbers show employers added 292,000 net new jobs while the unemployment rate remained constant at 5.0 percent. Delving deep, the details of the employment report also showed mostly good news. The household survey reported almost a half million Americans (466,000)…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the labor market continued to grow steadily in November. Employers added 211,000 net new jobs, while the unemployment rate remained constant. Across the economy, most labor market indicators either improved or remained constant. The household survey showed that the unemployment rate remained at 5 percent in November. However,…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ September jobs report showed unexpected weakness in the labor market. The payroll survey showed that employers created only 142,000 jobs in September. The economy created only 167,000 net new jobs a month in the 3rd quarter—a substantial drop from the 231,000 jobs a month pace in the 2nd quarter. The numbers are…

On the surface, recent jobs numbers represent solid economic growth, yet polls show that Americans continue to worry about economic conditions. Further analysis helps explain this disconnect. While the headline jobs numbers are strong, many other economic indicators have not fully recovered. The Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed that employers added 215,000 jobs while…

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May was a month of solid labor growth. The payroll survey found employers added 280,000 net new jobs, and the household survey found large numbers of Americans entering the labor force. Average wages also rose substantially. Over the past year average earnings have risen almost twice as fast…

As far as the Bureau of Labor Statistics is concerned, the economy started 2015 with a bang. The agency’s January employment figures found strong growth throughout the labor market. Employers created more than a quarter-million jobs, labor force participation surged and wages rose. The report is long-overdue good news for workers who have suffered through…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ November employment report showed solid economic growth, but also provides clues about why many Americans report unhappiness with the economy. The headline figures contained mostly good news. The household survey reported the unemployment rate remaining flat (5.8 percent) at the lowest rate since July 2008.  Labor force participation also remained flat…

On the jobs front, it’s a story of not much better and not much worse. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ July employment report shows middling growth in the labor market. It shows no hint of economic backsliding, but it also shows few signs of the robust growth many economists hoped for—and expected. The report stated…

Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics had encouraging news for Americans. The June jobs report contained some of the best labor market figures since the recession began. Employers added 288,000 net new jobs, and the unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 6.1 percent—the lowest since the financial crises worsened in September 2008. Unlike previous…