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Econ News You Can Use
Category: Unemployment
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Earlier today, the BLS released the jobs report for January 2017 and the news is not bad. While the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to (a still low) 4.8 percent, other indicators came in very strong. Nonfarm employment increased by 227,000 jobs in the month. Labor force participation edged up to 62.9 percent and this…
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The U.S. unemployment rate dropped in November to 4.6%, the lowest level since August 2007. This is certainly good news, but perhaps not as positive as it first appears. Part of the reason why the unemployment rate dropped last month is due to 178,000 new jobs added in the economy – not a trivial number. …
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The jobs report was released this morning and it is not bad news for Hillary Clinton. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.9% in October. Historically, low unemployment rates have helped political parties retain power. This report could be stronger but it adds to the record string of consecutive months of positive job gains, bringing…
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A first glance at last week's jobs report might lead you to believe that all is well in the U.S. economy – and perhaps that is true. But there are recurring indications that some long-term negative trends may persist. Let's start with the good news. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 percent, the lowest level…
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The BLS released the November jobs report earlier today. The key takeaways are that the unemployment rate stayed unchanged at 5 % and that 211,000 new jobs were created. In addition, the labor force participation rate ticked up slightly to 62.5 percent. All of this is good news. Even though nothing spectacular happened to the…
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Should we ditch macroeconomics or perhaps reduce it to two weeks? In a recent blog post, Noah Smith argues that most of the material in a Principles of Macroeconomics class isn’t really necessary. After teaching macro principles to more than 1,000 students per year since 2003, it is easy for me to find the blind…
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Do you think it is hard to find a job in the United States? Try looking in Spain, where youth (15-24 years old) unemployment rates have exceeded 50% since 2012. The figure below shows youth unemployment for both Spain and the United States beginning in 1995. Even when Spain was experiencing strong economic growth from…
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On Friday, the BLS released its monthly jobs report. The good news is that the unemployment stayed low at the low rate of 5.1 percent. However, the results regarding the labor force participation rate (LFPR) and the number of jobs added are not as positive. Labor force participation fell to 62.4% – the lowest rate…
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The July jobs report from the BLS showed change in the unemployment rate (5.3%) and labor force participation rate (62.6%). The unemployment rate since 2004 is plotted below: The big positive news is the estimate of 215,000 new jobs added in the economy overall. This continues three straight months of more than 200,000 new…
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The economy added 223,000 new jobs in April, up from 85,000 in March. Today's BLS jobs report also estimates the unemployment rate down to 5.4%, the lowest level since May 2008. Keep in mind, the unemployment rate was 6.2% just a year ago. You may wonder why the employment data seems to relay good…
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