The March jobs report

[BeyondGeography]

...Construction employment increased by 71,000 in March, following a decline in February. This industry has added 201,000 jobs over the past year. Most of the March employment gain occurred among specialty trade contractors.

Retail trade added 47,000 jobs in March. This sector has added 132,000 jobs since December, after posting a net job loss in 2003. Within retail trade, employment in food stores increased by 13,000 over the month, reflecting the net impact of workers returning from a strike. Wholesale trade employment edged up over the month. Since October, the industry has added
39,000 jobs.

Employment in health care and social assistance rose by 36,000 in March. Over the year, this industry has gained 255,000 jobs. In March, employment increased in hospitals (12,000), offices of physicians (9,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (7,000).

In the financial sector, employment in credit intermediation and related activities grew by 11,000 in March. Following declines in the last quarter of 2003, employment in credit intermediation expanded in the first quarter, reflecting a rise in mortgage refinancing activity. Prior to the fourth quarter of 2003, the industry had been adding jobs for about 3 years.

Professional and business services added 42,000 jobs in March. Small employment increases occurred in several of the component industries, including architectural and engineering services, computer systems design, and manage-
ment consulting. Elsewhere in professional and business services, employment in temporary help services was about unchanged over the month. Since April 2003, however, the industry has added 212,000 jobs.

Within the leisure and hospitality sector, employment in food services and drinking places increased by 27,000 over the month and by 186,000 over the year.

Manufacturing employment was unchanged in March at 14.3 million. Declines in manufacturing employment began moderating late last summer. Employment in both durable and nondurable goods manufacturing was little changed in March.

Employment in a number of other industries edged up in March, including transportation and warehousing (13,000), utilities (2,000), and government (31,000). Within government, the March job gain was concentrated in state and local education.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

[still_one]

1. Can someone explain the following to me

The report included 47000 more retail-trade jobs, partly reflecting the return to work of grocery-store employees who had been on strike in California.

My question, are people on strike who come back to work actually included in this figure?

"The service-producing industry added 230,000 jobs, more than at any time in the last year. That included 47,000 more retail-trade jobs, partly reflecting the return to work of grocery-store employees who had been on strike in California. The professional-and-business-services industry added 42,000 jobs, the biggest increase in three months."

[BeyondGeography]

2. They aren't being paid when they're on strike

so an addition to payroll is made when they return to work.

The jobs report isn't all about job creation. It probably should be called the Payroll Report.

[still_one]

3. Thanks

[displacedtexan]

4. I think the answer is yes. Also...

it's Spring: outdoor jobs (landscaping, construction, recreation departments, zoos, etc.) and other warm-season jobs (tax prep) commonly increase in March.

Don't forget: commission-based sales jobs are probably counted as new hires, even if these folks only get paid sporadically... so those "professional-and-business-services industry" jobs could be a smokescreen. Check monster.com or careerbuilder.com for the staggering numbers of "sales" jobs.

I don't trust this report as far as I could throw it.

[cosmicdot]

5. Retail ... meanwhile ... as April rolls in ... over at Gateway ...

Gateway to Close Retail Stores, Cut Jobs

Gateway Inc. announced Thursday it will shutter all of its retail
stores next week, eliminating 2,500 jobs, or nearly 40 percent of its
work force. The company, based in the San Diego suburb of Poway, said
its 188 stores will close on April 9 and workers will be dismissed as
the store operations wind down.


April 2, 2004 04:44 AM EST


SAN DIEGO - Gateway Inc. completed its acquisition of eMachines Inc.
last month, promising quick answers to three questions: who would run
the troubled computer company, where its corporate headquarters would
be, and what would happen to its money-losing stores.

It answered all three in the last week, culminating Thursday with
news it will close all of its 188 stores next week. The move will
eliminate 2,500 jobs, or nearly 40 percent of Gateway's work force.

"Our stores have been a source of pride for Gateway since the mid-
'90s, but despite enormous effort we haven't been able to run them
profitably," Ted Waitt, founder and chairman, wrote Thursday in an e-
mail to customers.

~snip~

The Gateway stores will all close April 9. The company will launch an
inventory sale on Saturday.

http://start.earthlink.net/newsarticle?cat=1&aid=D81MJBQ80_story

[kcwayne]

6. Jobs increase but hours work decrease?

"Despite the increase in jobs, hours worked in the economy fell by 0.1 percent. The average workweek also fell by a tenth of an hour to 33.7 hours. Hours worked in the manufacturing fell 0.3 percent, with a drop of 0.1 percentage points in the average workweek to 40.9."

CBS MarketWatch

I keep saying that the number of jobs is a stealth number that is misleading. It doesn't give you a clue about what people are earning. I would be far more interested in seeing the amount of FICA and Medicare tax collected on a monthly basis to estimate the value of payrolls. What we would see today is that number is steadily declining, as wages are dropped and fewer hours are worked.

[loftycity]

7. This goverment report is bull crap --all you have to do is look

around and talk with people. The numbers will get revised, the economy needs a strong second quarter even if it is a fantasy.

[Mecil]

8. Funny how the unemployment rate didn't fall

"...employment increased by 308,000 in March, and the
unemployment rate was about unchanged at 5.7 percent..."

So this employment increase of 308,000 was worth a staggering fall of 0.0% in the unemployment rate?...

Now I'm not unfamiliar with - economics and demography - having taken an education covering these subjects, but still someone needs to explain this part to me...