U.S. Adds Only 88,000 Jobs; Jobless Rate Falls to 7.6%

[Draggingtree]

The New York Times:

U.S. Adds Only 88,000 Jobs; Jobless Rate Falls to 7.6%

By CATHERINE RAMPELL Published: April 5, 2013

 

The United States economy posted disappointing job growth in March.

 

The nation’s employers increased their payrolls by 88,000 last month, compared with 268,000 in February, according to a Labor Department report released Friday. It was the slowest pace of growth since last June and less than half of what economists expected.

 

It was also the third consecutive spring in which employers tapered off their hiring, even after adjusting the numbers for seasonal changes.

[pollyannaish]

Hey! The Whitehouse just announced the economy is recovering. That's nice to know!

[Valin]

A few bright spots in today’s ‘dismal’ jobs report: Temporary employment, manufacturing overtime and construction hiring

Mark J. Perry

April 5, 2013

 

 

oday’s monthly employment report from the BLS was pretty disappointing (“dismal” according to Art Cashin on CNBC) – the economy added only 88,000 payroll jobs in March, which was far below the consensus expectations of an increase closer to 200,000 jobs. The unemployment fell rate to 7.6%, the lowest rate since December 2008, but it was mostly due to people leaving the work force. The labor force participation fell to 63.3%, the lowest since 1979. Despite the overall gloomy jobs picture in March, there were actually a few bright spots:

 

(Snip)

 

For some interesting contrarian views about today’s “dismal” jobs report, read this Business Insider article “Actually, This Was A GREAT Jobs Report…”, here are some key points:

 

The important leading sub-indices (professional/business services, construction) were strong.

In the key demographic groups, unemployment dropped massively, suggesting that a lot of what people are worried about is just based on aging demographics, not anything cyclical.

As for the mass exit from the workforce, it finally appears that people have the confidence to retire.

 

 

 

[Valin]

This chart suggests the US labor market might be broken

James Pethokoukis

April 5, 2013

 

 

One striking feature of the March jobs report was the decline (again) in the labor force participation rate. If it had merely held steady from a year ago, the unemployment rate would have been 8.3% rather than 7.6%. So does the decline show 1) something structurally wrong with the labor market such as not enough skilled workers, or 2) lots of baby boomers heading off to retirement. JPMorgan economist Mike Feroli is beginning to think it’s the former:

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Young Vs Old: A Tale Of Two US Job Markets

Tyler Durden

04/05/2013

 

Because we have discussed the issue of the age-bifurcated US jobs market extensively before, we are delighted to not have to say much if anything this time around, as absolutely everything is still the same. Since the arrival of Obama, the US workforce has been effectively split into two separate job markets: those 54 and younger (condolences) and those 55 and older. Specifically, since January 2009, the number of jobs created has been focused solely on the gerontocratic component of the US labor pool, those aged 55 to 69 (or more - gray line below), and who can no longer afford to retire as expected thanks to Bernanke's genocidal ZIRP policies which have made a mockery of savings. These older workers have seen a grand total of 4.02 million cumulative jobs created. Everyone else (or those 54 and younger - red line below)? A grand total of 2.8 million jobs lost, and now deteriorating once more, with those in the prime work demographic of 25-54 having lost the most jobs, 2.2 million, since the coming of Obama.

 

Jobs: young vs old:

 

 

And more granular, broken down by age group.

 

[Casino67]

From Lucianne.com's homepage:

 

 

 

Job Growth Slows to a Trickle

"Good evening, I'll be your server tonight. My name is

Bruce and I have a Master's in Biology."

[Casino67]

I heard Obama say in his Saturday bs session that 95k jobs were created last month. 88k or 95k, which was it?

[Valin]

I heard Obama say in his Saturday bs session that 95k jobs were created last month. 88k or 95k, which was it?

 

Obviously it 95k, and anyone who says different is a....wait for it....wait for it Racist, and probably clings to guns and bibles.

[Pepper]

From Lucianne.com's homepage:

 

 

 

Job Growth Slows to a Trickle

"Good evening, I'll be your server tonight. My name is

Bruce and I have a Master's in Biology."

 

@cudjo

 

with that Master's he can also shovel fries, can't he?

[Casino67]

From Lucianne.com's homepage:

 

 

 

Job Growth Slows to a Trickle

"Good evening, I'll be your server tonight. My name is

Bruce and I have a Master's in Biology."

 

@cudjo

 

with that Master's he can also shovel fries, can't he?

 

But at McDonald's only needs a BA to be a cashier.

[Pepper]

@Casino67 You don't even need to read. Here is a job in Japan

 

http://thekyotoproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/screen2.jpg

[pollyannaish]

Those on the front lines of this thing say its all bogus.

 

We are developing a huge underclass because hugely overqualified people are taking entry level jobs for minimum wage. Pushing those who are qualified out of the job market.

 

Assembly line jobs that used to get ten or twenty apps now bring in 300-500 per opening.

 

That's a systemic problem. These numbers LIE.