Jobs

6.3%: Black Unemployment Rate Second-Lowest Ever

The midterm election is about “safety and jobs,” President Trump told a campaign rally in Montana Thursday night. He said the economy is “booming like never before,” and on Friday, the unemployment report brought the president more good news: the unemployment rate for African Americans, 6.3 percent, is the second lowest on record (it was 5.9 percent in May); and job-growth remains strong. For Hispanics, the unemployment rate increased two-tenths of a point from last month’s record low of 4.5 percent. And the overall unemployment rate remained at a low 3.9 percent. The number of jobs added — 201,000 — exceeded analysts’ expectations. (After revisions, job gains have averaged 185,000 for each of the last three months.) After three straight record-setting months, the number of employed Americans dropped by 423,000 in August, to 155,542,000 from last month’s all-time high of 155,965,000. This number has set 11 records since Donald Trump took office. In August, the nation’s civilian noninstitutionalized population, consisting of all people age 16 or older who were not in the military or an institution, reached 258,066,000. Of those, 161,776,000 participated in the labor force by either holding a job or actively seeking one. The 161,776,000 who participated in the labor force equaled 62.7 percent of the 258,066,000 civilian noninstitutionalized population, slightly below last month’s 62.9 percent participation rate. The participation rate remains stubbornly low as a growing number of people leave the labor force, led by baby-boom retirees. BLS noted that the percentage of Americans not in the labor force — meaning they neither have a job nor are looking for one — increased to a record 96,290,000 in August. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.5 percent), adult women (3.6 percent), teenagers (12.8 percent), Whites (3.4 percent), and Asians (3.0 percent) showed little or no change in August. And there’s positive news on wage growth: In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 10 cents to $27.16. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 77 cents, or 2.9 percent.

More, continued, great news in this Trump economy!!     🙂

Layoffs Just Reached a Half-Century Low

The number of Americans filing applications for new unemployment benefits fell at the end of August to a nearly five-decade low. Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs across the U.S., declined to a seasonally adjusted 203,000 in the last week of August, the Labor Department said Thursday. This is the lowest level of unemployment benefit applications since the end of 1969. Though data can be volatile from week to week, the four-week moving average of claims, a steadier measure, also fell to a 49-year low, signaling overwhelming tightness in the U.S. labor market. “Job openings are plentiful, and the competition for skilled workers is intensifying,” said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors. “Employers are remiss to trim their respective workforces, particularly in an environment in which attracting and retaining workers is tougher.” Jobless claims have remained low in recent years, as the labor market continues to strengthen and managers face difficulty finding qualified employees. U.S. employers added 157,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell back to 3.9% in July, hovering near the lowest level since April 2000, according to the Labor Department’s latest jobs report. Meanwhile, the number of open jobs this spring exceeded the number of unemployed Americans seeking work for the first time in records going back to 2000. The appearance of plentiful job openings is pulling people from the sidelines who may have been discouraged from looking earlier in the expansion, but businesses have engaged in extraordinary measures to recruit talent. One manufacturer recruited at a high school parents’ night, and a plumbing company began offering an on-site tap flows with craft beer to keep workers content. Meanwhile, some firms have turned to automation and other technology to ramp up output to meet demand. Thursday’s jobless claims report is one of several sets of economic data pointing to late business-cycle strength in the economy. Economic growth in the second quarter was the strongest since 2014, and the manufacturing industry appears to be hitting a second wind, clocking the strongest growth in 14 years. The recent spurt of growth has led some analysts to argue the Federal Reserve may be allowing the economy to run too hot, while others think inflation isn’t yet strong enough to warrant a major change in monetary policy. The Fed has penciled in two more rate increases this year, just as price increases appear to be hovering around 2%, the Fed’s target. “At this point, you have to take the Fed at its word,” Mr. Baird said. “The employment picture matters, but so does inflation. Unless and until inflation accelerates at a pace that exceeds their expectations, the Fed appears likely to stay on their current path.”

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Jobless Claims Lower than Expected, Four Week Average Hits Lowest Level Since 1969

The number of Americans filing new applications for state unemployment benefits rose by less than expected last week, suggesting that the labor market is still very vigorous. New claims rose by just 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 213,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. After three consecutive weeks of declines, economists had forecast a rise to 214,000, according to Bloomberg. Jo0bless claims are an indication of layoffs and have been closely watched this year for signs that trade disputes might weigh on the U.S. labor market. So far, there are no signs that tariffs have cost the U.S. economy any jobs. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out weekly volatility and is considered by many economists to be a more reliable gauge of conditions, fell by 1,500 to 212,250. That is the lowest level since December 1969, according to the Labor Department.

Excellent news!!     🙂

Study: 20X as Many U.S. Jobs Created from Trump Tariffs than Jobs Lost

There are 20 times as many American jobs that have been created in the last six months thanks to President Trump’s tariffs on imported foreign goods than jobs that have been lost. Research by a Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) finds that the number of U.S. jobs gained because of Trump’s tariffs on imported steel, aluminum, solar panels, and washing machines exceeds the number of U.S. job losses because of the tariffs by a staggering 20-to-1 ratio. As Breitbart News reported, the CPA research has found that over the last six months, there have been about 11,100 U.S. jobs created due to Trump’s protective tariffs. On the other hand, there have been about 514 job losses directly tied to the tariffs. “We keep hearing stories about the sky falling because of President Trump’s strong hand in enforcing existing US trade laws,” CPA Chair Dan DiMicco, who worked on Trump’s transition team, said in a statement. “But the past six months have shown impressive job creation in skilled, high-wage sectors against only very negligible, accompanying job losses.” The most notable increases in job gains due to the tariffs were in the domestic steel and aluminum jobs. In the steel industry, alone, nearly 5,000 manufacturing jobs have been created. In the aluminum industry, a little less than 3,000 manufacturing jobs have been created thanks to Trump’s tariffs. Though Trump’s tariffs have been incredibly popular — specifically with American business owners, U.S. workers, and GOP voters — the Chamber of Commerce, free trade lawmakers, and the billionaire GOP donor Koch brothers have all attempted to stop the job-created tariffs. Since 2001, free trade with China has cost millions of Americans their jobs. Between 2001 and 2015, about 3.4 million U.S. jobs were lost due to the country’s trade deficit with China..

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Record 155,576,000 Employed in June; 10th Record for Trump

“Our economic policy can be summed up in three very simple but beautiful words,” President Donald Trump told a rally in Montana Thursday evening: “Jobs, jobs, jobs,” he said. On Friday, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said the economy added 213,000 jobs in June, a strong number; the number of employed Americans, 155,576,000, set its tenth record of the Trump presidency; but the number of unemployed Americans (which includes people who are actively looking for jobs) increased by almost half-a-million. The unemployment rate increased two tenths of a point to 4.0 percent. In June, the nation’s civilian noninstitutionalized population, consisting of all people age 16 or older who were not in the military or an institution, reached 257,642,000. Of those, 162,140,000 participated in the labor force by either holding a job or actively seeking one. The 162,140,000 who participated in the labor force equaled 62.9 percent of the 257,642,000 civilian noninstitutionalized population, a slight increase from last month’s 62.7 percent. Overall, the labor force participation rate has been trending down since its record high of 67.3 percent in the first quarter of 2000. According to the Congressional Budget Office, “A lower labor force participation rate is associated with lower gross domestic product and lower tax revenues. It is also associated with larger federal outlays, because people who are not in the labor force are more likely to enroll in certain federal benefit programs.” While the participation rate remains stagnant, the number of Americans not in the labor force – those neither working nor looking for a job – remained stubbornly high last month, at 95,502,000, partly because members of the Baby Boom generation are retiring in increasing numbers. This number has increased seven times since Trump took office. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.7 percent), adult women (3.7 percent), and Asians (3.2 percent) and Blacks (6.5 percent, up from a record low of 5.9 percent) increased in June. The jobless rate for teenagers (12.6 percent), and Whites (3.5 percent) showed little or no change over the month. In June, a record 27,077,000 Hispanics were employed, and the unemployment rate for this group, 4.6 percent, has never been lower. Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 5 cents to $26.98 last month. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 72 cents, or 2.7 percent. The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for April was revised up from +159,000 to +175,000, and the change for May was revised up from +223,000 to +244,000. With these revisions, employment gains in April and May combined were 37,000 more than previously reported.

More great jobs numbers in this Trump economy!!    🙂

American Job Openings Now Outnumber the Joble

The U.S. had more job openings this spring than unemployed Americans. For the first time since such record-keeping began in 2000, the number of available positions exceeded the number of job seekers, the Labor Department said Tuesday, a shift that is rippling across the economy and affecting the behavior of employers and workers. U.S. job openings rose to a seasonally adjusted 6.7 million at the end of April, a record high, and more than the 6.3 million Americans who were unemployed during the month. Openings had exceeded the available labor pool beginning in March, according to revised figures released Tuesday. The figures are the latest sign the U.S. is facing a historically tight labor market. The jobless rate ticked down further in May to a seasonally adjusted 3.8%, the lowest since April 2000, the Labor Department said last week. The last time the rate was lower was in 1969, when young men were being drafted into the Vietnam War. The labor market is forcing employers to rethink their approach to hiring, said Terri Greeno, owner of an Express Employment Professionals office in Crystal Lake, Ill. She is asking clients if they are being realistic in their demands for workers with clean criminal histories and higher levels of education. “Is it a health and safety issue? If not, you have to ask if those demands are really related to the outcome on the job,” Ms. Greeno said. “When the unemployment rate is this low, you’re really competing for workers who already have jobs.” Her staffing firm is taking extra steps to fill light industrial and office jobs, reaching out to 45,000 people it has placed in positions in the past 15 years and asking if friends or family would be willing to take on work. “This is a very tight labor market,” said Adam Kamins, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics. “Most everyone who wants a job has one.” For workers, that’s good news. On the other hand, a tighter labor market presents several challenges to businesses. If they can’t find workers to meet the demand for their products, they can’t help the economy grow. They may instead opt to close the restaurant early or not run a third shift at the factory. Firms may need to pay more to attract workers, and some already are. That raises costs and would cut profit margins if higher prices can’t be passed on to customers. If prices are raised, that stokes stronger inflation, which already has been accelerating in recent months. Federal Reserve policy makers are watching closely. Emergence of worker shortages and stronger inflation could signal the economy is overheating, raising the need to lift interest rates more aggressively than the slow, moderate path they have signaled. For now, the market is opening up possibilities for those who have struggled in recent years. Geremy Mincey, 26 years old, had bounced between temporary jobs since dropping out of college seven years ago, working at factories, fast-food restaurants and even as the mall Easter Bunny. He would often go months between paychecks. Earlier this year, he landed a temporary job as a saw operator at Williams Metals and Welding Alloys in Birmingham, Ala. Last month, the firm asked him to take a full-time position with health benefits and retirement savings. “I feel like I broke the cycle,” he said.

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Unemployment Rate Falls to 18-Year Low; Solid Hiring in May

The U.S. labor market was firing on all cylinders in May: the unemployment rate fell to an 18-year low, employers added jobs at a faster pace and wages modestly improved. The unemployment rate ticked down to a seasonally adjusted 3.8%, matching April 2000 as the lowest reading since 1969, the Labor Department said Friday. Nonfarm payrolls rose a seasonally adjusted 223,000 in May, a jump from gains from March and April. Average hourly earnings ticked up to a 2.7% from a year earlier—and raises were even stronger for nonmanagers. “It’s pretty hard to argue that the labor market is anything but right in the sweet spot,” said Dan North, chief economist at Euler Hermes North America. “There is tremendous demand for labor right now.” U.S. employers have added to payrolls for 92 straight months, extending the longest continuous jobs expansion on record. And those gains are extending to all corners of the labor market. The unemployment rate for women, 3.6% last month, was the lowest since 1953, when far smaller share of women sought jobs. The jobless rates for blacks, Latinos and those without high-school diplomas are trending near record lows. A tighter labor market should also produce better wage growth, but overall gains have remained modest. Average hourly earnings for all private-sector workers increased 8 cents last month to $26.92. Wages for nonsupervisor workers are rising at a faster rate than overall wage increases for the first time since 2014. The nonsupervisor increase, 2.8% in May from a year earlier, was the best annual gain since mid-2009, when the recession just ended. Still, in April 2000 wages for those workers rose 3.9% from a year earlier. “The tight labor market is putting employers under enormous pressure to invest as much as necessary to retain their best employees and attract the best talent,” said Rebecca Henderson, chief executive of employment firm Randstad Sourceright. The historically low unemployment rate and growing wages should keep Federal Reserve policy makers in line to raise the central bank’s benchmark interest rate at a meeting later this month. Consumer inflation has strengthened in recent months to reach the Fed’s 2% annual target, another factor likely keeping the central bank in line to gradually lift rates further in an effort to make sure the economy doesn’t overheat. One factor holding wage gains in check is the ability of employers in the past year to bring Americans who have been out of the labor market back into the workforce and dissuade existing employees from retiring or otherwise exiting. In May, the share of American adults working or looking for a job edged down to 62.7%, but the share with jobs ticked up to 60.4%. Labor-force participation is up slightly from a recent low in 2015, but still near the smallest share of adults participating since the late 1970s.

Great news in this Trump economy!!   🙂