Employment increased by 192,000 in February, and the unemployment rate is down to 8.9 percent

[WolfoftheWild]

WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added 192,000 jobs last month, the government reported Friday — the biggest monthly jump since May and the latest sign that the nation’s employment picture is set to brighten this year.

The monthly payrolls gain was above market expectations for 185,000 jobs, with factories, professional and business services, education and health care among those expanding employment. As in previous months, the private sector accounted for all the job gains in February, with an addition of 222,000 positions, the most since April and up from 68,000 in January.

The Labor Department said the nation’s unemployment rate was 8.9 percent in February, down from 9 percent in January and sinking to a nearly two-year low.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41903404/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/

Can you say Recovery??

[ixion]

1. No, but I can say 'hogwash'

[WolfoftheWild]

5. based on your own employment survey, perchance?

[Common Sense Party]

2. Can you say "A little too little, a lot too late"?

I didn't think so.

[WolfoftheWild]

6. it's never too late to gain jobs. I guess you gave up a long time ago.

[Common Sense Party]

17. You guess wrong. I never give up.

[sufrommich]

8. By that reasoning, no new jobs will be good news. Jobs added to the

economy are a good thing. I'm not sure why unemployed people getting jobs is a negative here.

[Common Sense Party]

13. Reasoning fail, nice try.

Is it a good thing? Yes, but in such an infinitesimally small amount that it doesn't add up to much.

The rebound in jobs should have begun long ago, and should be a well-established, rising trend by now.

This is not yet even a weak trend.

Celebrate if you want, but 8.9% is nothing to cheer about yet.

[sufrommich]

23. Good economic news is good news. Shrug it off all you want. nt

[Common Sense Party]

30. Thanks for your permission.

[sufrommich]

32. "Celebrate if you want" . Right back at 'cha. nt

[Gaedel]

57. Yes

Every uptick in the stock market is a "dead cat bounce".

[sharp_stick]

12. Can you say

no news will be good news no matter what it is?

I think you can, it tends to fit a pattern.

[TheKentuckian]

3. Sweet! A month were net jobs were created.

The 8.9 is elephant shit but at least we not only treaded water but probably took a spoonful of dirt and put it into the hole we've been digging for a decade.

[phantom power]

4. I'm highly skeptical of "recovery," but it's the best number we've had in a long time.

[Newest Reality]

7. Got to check into this ...

The other day, I saw a report of 10.3%.

And, of course, there is the "other" calculation that is more realistic about how many of us are *actually* unemployed.

Fudge those numbers, there is a Simulation to manage here and it all relies on perception, lest it come crashing down like it would without props.

[WolfoftheWild]

11. so, basically you trust no employment numbers. what do you go by then?

[Common Sense Party]

15. Was it this?

http://www.gallup.com/poll/146453/Gallup-Finds-Unemployment-Hitting-February.aspx

[dmallind]

50. 1/5 the sample size for a start. NT

[dmallind]

49. That was a Gallup product, not BLS. Apples/oranges. NT.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[erodriguez]

10. Woohoo The jobs are coming! The Jobs are coming!

Nevermind that they pay a lot less.

WOOOHOOO! Yeah Boy! Spotty contract work, here I come!


The Real News on Jobs

The National Employment Law Project did just that. Its new data brief shows that most of the new jobs created since February 2010 (about 1.26 million) pay significantly lower wages than the jobs lost (8.4 million) between January 2008 and February 2010.

While the biggest losses were higher-wage jobs paying an average of $19.05 to $31.40 an hour, the biggest gains have been lower-wage jobs paying an average of $9.03 to $12.91 an hour.

http://robertreich.org/post/3638565075

[WolfoftheWild]

19. Would you rather have a job or not?

[SlimJimmy]

24. Sure master, I'll take my old job back at half the pay. And thanks

for the opportunity to serve. :shrug:

[WolfoftheWild]

26. your old job is gone. do you want a new job or the alternative?

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Common Sense Party]

29. You WILL take that job paying 30K when you used to get $65K.

And you will LIKE it!

There are Chinese kids who will do the job for less than $10K, so you'd better start showing some gratitude.

[WolfoftheWild]

33. if you want to pay rent, you'll take the job you can get.

Obama didn't destroy the old jobs. That was a done deal before he even got into office.

He has just made the right moves to allow our Economy to recover.

Not all the old jobs will come back.
Things change. People must adapt.

[Common Sense Party]

34. Which moves are those?

[WolfoftheWild]

36. Economic Recovery Act, Saving the American Auto Industry, Financial Regulation,

Unemployment Extension, Tax credits for hiring, etc. etc. etc.

[SlimJimmy]

40. Are you f'ing serious? First the corporations destroy the jobs, or ship them overseas, and then

they offer them back at half the wage. And now you say that the American people are supposed to "adapt"? Give me a break.

[WolfoftheWild]

43. do you have any evidence that the same corporations are offering the same job?

or is that just your theory?

actually, there's no way you could have any idea what the exact jobs created this month were.
why do you pretend to?

[dmallind]

51. Strange then that hourly earnings increased too. nt.

[SlimJimmy]

54. Read R. Reich's piece and you will see that this is not actually the case (nt)

[SlimJimmy]

42. Exactly. And this is the game big corporate interests have been playing for a very long time. (nt)

[erodriguez]

25. Take that job, boy! Do that work, boy!

Yessuh Yessuh!

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[erodriguez]

41. Facts are facts...there is very uneven growth in this recovery

And it is not stubbornness, but reality that sways me.

I want the economy to do well. I want our unemployment problem to drop.


However, the reality is that 90% of working families in this country are being screwed. Those lucky to have jobs are working harder with less pay. Those without jobs are fighting over scraps.

It will take years to get out of this economic mess

And you ask "Can you say recovery?" with one month of slight job growth?

Wake UP!

[WolfoftheWild]

44. even in the best Economy, you aren't guaranteed another job at the same salary when you are laid off

will you apologize in 5 months when this trend continues?
or will you just pretend this never happened?

[erodriguez]

60. Apologize? To whom? You?

And I'm not talking about guarantees here. There are no guarantees. I'm talking about a fair wage for good work.

If the majority of jobs created are at the bottom rung, how will the majority of the middle class stay in the middle class?

Plain and simple. I won't beat round the bush.

Obama's economic policies are weak. His current path on cutting the government will not be good for job growth.

[WolfoftheWild]

62. you just don't realize catastrophe that Obama averted with his policies.

but you might, someday.

[erodriguez]

63. Yes I realize very much that the bailouts brought us back from the brink

I also realize how the stimulus kept us going.


However, I definitely realize that the stimulus was not big enough. I know that inequity in our country has grown since the initial crisis.
The problem of too big too fail is not gone. HAMP is a failure from the perspective of the people. The President gave away the tax breaks to the rich while not helping the 99ers.
The President has bought into the idea that cutting the deficit is going to bring back jobs.

Willful blindness got us into this mess. It is certainly not going to take us out.

[SlimJimmy]

21. You beat me to it. I read that piece by R. Reich this morning and had the same thought. (nt)

[pinto]

14. Saw this today, as well - Orders to U.S. Factories Climb Most in More Than 4 Years

Orders to U.S. factories climbed in January by the most in more than four years as demand for commercial aircraft rebounded after slumping the previous month.

Bookings for manufacturers’ goods increased 3.1 percent, the most since September 2006, after a revised 1.4 percent gain in December that was larger than previously estimated, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Orders excluding transportation equipment also advanced, propelled by a jump in demand for non-durable goods that may reflect higher commodity prices.

Companies including General Motors Co. (GM) and Deere & Co. are benefiting from improving demand in the U.S. and abroad, which may prompt further gains in factory employment. The Federal Reserve this week said “solid growth” at manufacturers led to stronger labor market conditions in several regions.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-04/orders-to-u-s-factories-jumped-by-most-in-more-than-four-years-in-january.html

[Common Sense Party]

16. Now THAT is good news.

It's going to take quite a while before that translates into 5% unemployment, though.

[WolfoftheWild]

20. isn't it just "too little, too late"?

[Donnachaidh]

18. and Gallup has the number at 10.3%

http://www.gallup.com/poll/146453/Gallup-Finds-Unemployment-Hitting-February.aspx

so who's spinning what?

[WolfoftheWild]

22. is this all you can cling to? the hope that somehow things are worse than they actually are.

That is really sad.

Take a step back and look at what you're doing.

The Economy is improving whether you like it or not.

[NeedleCast]

31. Welcome to DU brother

where things are always at least a million, brazillion times worse than they seem.

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ClarkUSA]

55. Ain't that the truth?

:thumbsup:

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

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[dmallind]

52. Strange - did you cite Gallup in Dec when they posted 8.8%? No? Why not precisely?

If next month Gallup has a lower number than the BLS again which one will you tout? Can you pick one in advance for once or do you just assume the worse is correct? Of course it's the latter I know but at least admit it.

[BlueCheese]

35. Very good news.

I guess the GOP is creating jobs after all. (I'm kidding. Blech.)

If this is the beginning of a sustained recovery, that would be terrific. While it's too soon to fully celebrate, there is room for optimism.

I do notice that state and local governments cut 30,000 jobs. I'd hate for the federal government to get into the act too with gratuitous budget cuts.

[taught_me_patience]

38. Solid report

Confirms we are in recovery mode.

[Selatius]

46. It's a step in the right direction, but we're still far from recovered.

Ideally, we would've fought the recession the way FDR fought the Great Depression, with a massive jobs program and a massive public works program to reinvent the infrastructure for future decades.

[WolfoftheWild]

47. Recovery is the process of becoming Recovered

[Selatius]

53. Be that as it may, the point still stands in what I said about how we should've fought it. nt

[VoteProgressive]

48. Great news.

[walldude]

56. Well, I wouldn't call it a recovery...

You wanted some facts.. here you go:

A comprehensive gauge of labor underutilization, known as the ‘U-6′ unemployment rate for its data classification by the Labor Department, accounts for people who have stopped looking for work or who can’t find full-time jobs. That rate has also been declining over the past three months, but still sits at 15.9%

Oops unemployment is actually between 15 and 17%

There’s ample evidence that this recession has seen a lot of the unemployed giving up and dropping out. The labor force participation rate, which is the percentage of the population that has a job or is looking for one, sits at 64.2%, the lowest level it’s been since 1984. Before the recession it stood at 66% — coincidentally also its 10-year average. If the participation rate was at that level now, the headline unemployment rate would be 11.5%.

Oops the number of people who have jobs or are looking is still lower than it was before the "recession".


Meanwhile, the number of workers unemployed for a long period of time remains at all-time highs. Some 4.2 million people, or 30.4% of the unemployed, have been out of a job for more than a year. That rate is significantly higher than at any time recorded in Labor Department data that go back to 1977.

Oops millions have been unemployed for more than a year...

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/03/04/jobless-rate-drop-its-for-real-mostly/

Yeah great news.

[BobbyBoring]

58. I can say horse shit!

Obamas tax cuts created jobs I heard today?? Horse shit. Just more spin trying to buy time while this whole ponzi scheme comes unglued.

[WolfoftheWild]

61. ahahahahahahahaah!

that's some good stuff there.

[SidDithers]

59. K&R. Good, positive news...nt

Sid

[Desertrose]

64. Numbers can be spun a lot of ways.....

just sayin'.

[WolfoftheWild]

65. they can also be representative of a trend.