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EPI: A solid step in the right direction for the labor market
A solid step in the right direction for the labor market
By Heidi Shierholz
This morning’s release of the December 2011 employment situation report, which marked four years since the official start of the recession in December 2007, capped off 2011 on a positive note. Both the establishment survey and the household survey showed improvement – the labor market added 200,000 jobs, hours and wages were up, unemployment ticked down, underemployment dropped, and the duration of unemployment spells declined. This is a step in the right direction.
However, it will take many years of reports this strong or stronger to bring the labor market back to health. The jobs deficit of the 2008-09 period, defined as the number of jobs lost since the recession started plus the jobs we should have added to keep up with the normal growth in the working-age population, remains well over 10 million, and at December’s growth rate the United States will not recover its pre-recession unemployment rate until 2019.
<...>
Hours and wages up
The length of the average workweek increased in December to 34.4 hours, restoring hours to where they were last spring. Average hours have thus far made up just three-fourths of what they lost in the first 18 months of the downturn (average hours were 34.6 in December 2007 and 33.7 at the low point in June 2009).
Average hourly wages increased by 4 cents in December and have risen at a 1.9% annualized rate over the last three months. This remains far below the pre-recession growth rate (3.4 percent from December 2006 to December 2007), as persistent high unemployment has exerted strong downward pressure on wage growth. With hours and hourly wages up, average weekly wages grew more strongly at $3.70, and they have risen at a 3.1% annualized rate over the last three months.
- more -
http://www.epi.org/publication/december-2011-jobs-picture/
By Heidi Shierholz
This morning’s release of the December 2011 employment situation report, which marked four years since the official start of the recession in December 2007, capped off 2011 on a positive note. Both the establishment survey and the household survey showed improvement – the labor market added 200,000 jobs, hours and wages were up, unemployment ticked down, underemployment dropped, and the duration of unemployment spells declined. This is a step in the right direction.
However, it will take many years of reports this strong or stronger to bring the labor market back to health. The jobs deficit of the 2008-09 period, defined as the number of jobs lost since the recession started plus the jobs we should have added to keep up with the normal growth in the working-age population, remains well over 10 million, and at December’s growth rate the United States will not recover its pre-recession unemployment rate until 2019.
<...>
Hours and wages up
The length of the average workweek increased in December to 34.4 hours, restoring hours to where they were last spring. Average hours have thus far made up just three-fourths of what they lost in the first 18 months of the downturn (average hours were 34.6 in December 2007 and 33.7 at the low point in June 2009).
Average hourly wages increased by 4 cents in December and have risen at a 1.9% annualized rate over the last three months. This remains far below the pre-recession growth rate (3.4 percent from December 2006 to December 2007), as persistent high unemployment has exerted strong downward pressure on wage growth. With hours and hourly wages up, average weekly wages grew more strongly at $3.70, and they have risen at a 3.1% annualized rate over the last three months.
- more -
http://www.epi.org/publication/december-2011-jobs-picture/
There's a lot more information at the link.
Residential Construction Employment: First increase since 2005
by CalculatedRisk
The graph below shows the number of total construction payroll jobs in the U.S. including both residential and non-residential since 1969.
Construction employment increased by 17 thousand jobs in December, and is now down 2.18 million jobs from the peak in April 2006.
Total construction employment increased by 46 thousand jobs in 2011. This was the first increase for construction employment since 2006, and the first increase for residential construction employment since 2005.
- more -
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/
by CalculatedRisk
The graph below shows the number of total construction payroll jobs in the U.S. including both residential and non-residential since 1969.
Construction employment increased by 17 thousand jobs in December, and is now down 2.18 million jobs from the peak in April 2006.
Total construction employment increased by 46 thousand jobs in 2011. This was the first increase for construction employment since 2006, and the first increase for residential construction employment since 2005.
- more -
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/
Manufacturing Is Surprising Bright Spot in U.S. Economy
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002125381
• December Employment Report: 200,000 Jobs, 8.5% Unemployment Rate
• Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims decline to 372,000
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2012/01/summary-for-week-ending-january-6th.html
3 replies
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