• October Jobs Report: Unemployment now at 9.0 Percent

    The US economy added 80,000 jobs in October, according to the latest numbers released by the Department of Labor . The unemployment rate dipped down slightly, to 9.0 percent. The professional and business services and leisure and hospitality sectors led the job growth, while government employment continued to decline. Perhaps the most positive news from the report is that the number of long-term unemployed, those out of work for 27 weeks or more, dropped by 366,000 over the month. Here's a look at the unemployment trends from the Bureau of Labor Statistics : Here are some of the key data from other areas we like to track in the monthly jobs report: The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) decreased by 374,000 to 8.9 million in October. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. In October, 2.6 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, about the same as a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marginally attached, there were 967,000 discouraged workers in October, a decrease of 252,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.6 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in October had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. Read the full report from the BLS here .

  • Good News in the Bad News on Jobless Claims

    The Labor Department has released unemployment figures for May and the prevailing opinion seems to be that the numbers are good in that they aren't as bad as they could be. But they are bad. Unemployment is now over 9 percent for the first time in a quarter century. Another 345,000 jobs were lost last month, bringing unemployment to 9.4%. What's the good news? Economists had expected the May job loss to be much higher--525,000 according to the Washington Post 's Neil Irwin . Irwin writes : The data was welcome news, despite the rising jobless rate, because it suggested the furious pace of job losses -- which peaked at 741,000 jobs lost in January -- is finally easing. It is the strongest evidence yet that the economy's downdraft of the winter has given way to a more steady, measured decline. Measured decline is still decline, of course. And the figures are a little more daunting when you compare them on a year-by-year basis. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , unemployment is now 3.9 percentage points higher than May of 2008. Take a look at the larger trend. Some other long-term numbers stand out from this month's report. The number of Americans marginally attached to the labor force is now at 2.2 million--nearly 800,000 more than a year ago (read our post: Rise of Discouraged Workers ). And the number of "long-term unemployed"--those people who have been jobless for 27 weeks or more--is now at 3.9 million. That's triple what it was at the beginning of the recession. Read the BLS's report here .