Payroll employment increases by 313,000 in February; unemployment rate unchanged at 4.1%

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Last edited Fri Mar 9, 2018, 10:35 AM - Edit history (1)

We still don't have a BLS commissioner. The acting commissioner has been in that position for, gee, at least 15 months. Here's his statement, which is the fast and dirty thing that the TV news anchors can recite:

Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation

Recommended reading: the commentary at TWSJ.:

February Jobs Report: Live Analysis

Last Updated Mar 9, 2018 at 8:48 am ET

Join us as we dig into the February jobs report. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect employers added 205,000 jobs during the month and see the unemployment rate ticking down to 4.0%.

Wow. Economists expected 205,000 added jobs. ADP reported 235,000 on Wednesday.

But:

17m

Average Hourly Earnings Disappoint

Average hourly earnings, a key measure of worker wages, were up 0.1% in February from a month earlier, below economist projections of 0.2% and January's 0.3% rise. From a year earlier, wages were up 2.6%, a slowdown from January's 2.9% growth, which had been the biggest since 2009.

Ben Eisen

Last month's report:

Payroll employment increases by 200,000 in January; unemployment rate unchanged at 4.1%

Payroll employment increases by 313,000 in February; unemployment rate unchanged at 4.1% https://go.usa.gov/vrK #JobsReport #BLSdata

Link to tweet

See our interactive graphics on today’s #JobsReport http://go.usa.gov/cn5B4 #BLSdata #DataViz

Link to tweet

People often wonder how in the world the BLS comes up with all this information. This article from two months ago will help explain things:

Monthly Labor Review

JANUARY 2018

The Current Population Survey—tracking unemployment in the United States for over 75 years

For more than three-quarters of a century, the Current Population Survey has been a vital tool for providing information on U.S. unemployment and other aspects of labor market performance. This article highlights major developments in the survey’s history.

The Current Population Survey (CPS) has been conducted for more than three-quarters of a century.1 From the outset, the main purpose of the survey has been to gather information on the employment status of the U.S. population, with an emphasis on the measurement of unemployment. CPS data have been used by policymakers and others to gauge both the degree of labor market weakness during recessions and the strength of the job market in economic expansions. More than 900 monthly reports on national employment and unemployment have been issued since the survey began in March 1940.

The survey also has been used to provide a wealth of information on a wide range of other subjects—some related to the labor market and some unrelated—through supplemental questions to the basic survey instrument. Over the years, supplements to the CPS have been used to collect data on topics ranging from income and worker displacement to tobacco use and participation in the arts.

The main objective of the CPS, however, has always been to measure unemployment and other aspects of labor market performance. This article summarizes some of the major developments in achieving this goal over the past three-quarters of a century.
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Other useful links:

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[center]Facilities for Sensory Impaired[/center]

Information from this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: [phone], Federal Relay Services: 1-800-877-8339.

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If you're strapped for time, the quick read is here:

Commissioner's Statement on The Employment Situation

Statement of

William J. Wiatrowski
Acting Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, March 9, 2018

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It used to be that you could get free access to articles in The Wall Street Journal. by going in through TWSJ.'s Twitter account or the Twitter accounts of the authors:

How to get around the paywall to read articles in The Wall Street Journal.:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141767325#post6

For free access to articles in The Wall Street Journal., trying going in through the authors' Twitter feeds:

This trick doesn't seem to work anymore, but you might be able to get in if they've slipped up. Here are those accounts:

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The Wall Street Journal.: @WSJ
https://twitter.com/wsj

Wall Street Journal

Breaking news and features from the WSJ.

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Ben Leubsdorf: @BenLeubsdorf
https://twitter.com/BenLeubsdorf

I cover the economy at @WSJ. @ConMonitorNews, @AP, @the_herald alum. DC native. Hyperactive news omnivore. Also I like burritos. [e-mail]

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Josh Zumbrun: ‎@JoshZumbrun
https://twitter.com/JoshZumbrun

National economics correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. Covering the world's usual state of greed and disorder, confusion and apathy. [e-mail]

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Nick Timiraos: @NickTimiraos
https://twitter.com/NickTimiraos

National economics correspondent, The Wall Street Journal

Please look at the tweets, as Nick Timiraos likes to slice and dice the data every which way. Also, link to the "11 charts " article from his Twitter feed to get past TWSJ.'s paywall.

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Jeffrey Sparshott: @jeffsparshott
https://twitter.com/jeffsparshott

[e-mail]

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Paul Vigna: @paulvigna
https://twitter.com/paulvigna

Markets, bitcoin, and the zombie apocalypse.

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Eric Morath: @EricMorath
https://twitter.com/EricMorath

[e-mail]

I'm a Wall Street Journal economy reporter, dad, husband and Spartan for life. [e-mail]

Washington DC

blogs.wsj.com/economics/

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