Dec 05 What’s the most reliable indicator of monthly job gains? By Simone Pathe Friday's jobs report showed a surprisingly high 321,000 jobs were added in November. Inspiring even more good cheer, however, average hourly earnings for private nonfarm payrolls actually rose 9 cents last month. Continue reading
Nov 09 If the economic news is good, why did voters say it’s bad? By Simone Pathe Two-thirds of voters told exit pollsters last week that the economy was getting worse. And yet, Friday's jobs report marked the ninth straight month of job gains over 200,000 and the lowest unemployment rate since the summer of 2008. Continue reading
Nov 07 The startling fact you, we and Paul Krugman didn’t know about the jobs report By Simone Pathe October's payroll gains were slightly lower than expected at 214,000, but average six-month gains continued to suggest a strong recovery. You might be surprised to learn, however, that those payroll gains don't just reflect full-time jobs. They also include part-time… Continue reading
Sep 18 Twitter Chat: What’s the economic impact of the rise of single U.S. adults? By Nora Daly Every month the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases an “Employment Situation Summary” based on current employment and population statistics the agency collects. But does this report paint a full picture?… Continue reading
Sep 05 Noisy data aside, the big question from August’s jobs report is who’s dropping out of the workforce? By Simone Pathe The economy added a fewer than expected 142,000 jobs last month -- the lowest monthly gain of the year. But the unemployment rate ticked down to 6.1 percent, which is good news, right? Maybe not. That all depends on who's… Continue reading
Aug 01 Another 200K jobs for ‘The Little Engine That Could’ By Simone Pathe July marks the sixth straight month of job gains exceeding 200,000 -- a growth record not seen since 1997. But there's still not enough turnover in the labor market, the Brookings Institution's Justin Wolfers and MIT's Peter Diamond say, to… Continue reading
Jun 06 Watch Low-wage jobs drive gains in U.S. employment By PBS News Hour American employment now exceeds pre-recession levels, but most of the jobs created have lower wages. That's according to May’s government labor data, which shows that despite gains of 200,000 jobs, the unemployment rate hasn't budged. Economics correspondent Paul Solman talks… Continue watching
May 02 Watch Shields and Brooks on the flagging labor force, foreign policy fights By PBS News Hour Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s news, including a mixed-bag jobs report boasting the lowest unemployment rate in five years, upcoming midterm primaries and critiques for President Obama’s… Continue watching
May 02 Watch Good news in jobs report bolstered by shrinking workforce By PBS News Hour The jobs report released Friday finds that employers added 288,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent. However, the dip in unemployment was driven by a sharp decline — more than 800,000 — in the number… Continue watching
Mar 07 Jobs report: economy adds 175,000 jobs By News Desk BREAKING: US employers shake off wintry weather, add 175K jobs; unemployment rises to 6.7 percent. — The Associated Press (@AP) March 7, 2014 We’ll have more on today’s job report later today on… Continue reading