Apr 01 March Unemployment: Barely Budging One brief comment on the jobs numbers. The net addition of 216,000 jobs, from the so-called payroll survey, is respectable. But the "household survey" reports roughly the same number of unemployed Americans: 13.5 million. You can't tell a lot from… Continue reading
Mar 31 Coming Up on Making Sen$e: The Fate of America’s Veterans Looking For Work By Paul Solman Editor's Note: On Friday's NewsHour: an eye-opening look at the fate of many veterans attempting to transition back into a tough job market. Today, there are over two million veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And… Continue reading
Mar 07 More Thoughts on Latest Jobless Numbers, Mexico’s Drug War By Paul Solman February's 192,000 net new jobs breaks down into 222,000 jobs added in the private sector and 30,000 jobs dropped by government. This provides evidence for one side of the economic policy debate of the moment, you could… Continue reading
Mar 07 Further Thoughts on Friday’s Job Numbers By Elizabeth Shell February's 192,000 net new jobs breaks down into 222,000 jobs added in the private sector, 30,000 jobs dropped by government. This provides evidence for one side of the economic policy debate of the moment, you could even say "of… Continue reading
Mar 04 Watch Good News on Many Economic Fronts; Oil, Housing Still Threaten Recovery A new report shows U.S. employers added 192,000 jobs in February and the jobless rate fell to 8.9 percent. Jeffrey Brown discusses the numbers and recovery prospects with former Labor Department Chief Economist Lisa Lynch and Nariman Behravesh, chief economist… Continue watching
Mar 04 February Unemployment Numbers: Good, But Don’t Pop the Champagne By Paul Solman The unemployment numbers for February are in, and though economist Peter Morici advises, "Don't Break Out the Champagne Just Yet," the data are encouraging. There are two separate surveys, remember - of "establishments" (places that employ… Continue reading
Mar 04 February Unemployment Numbers: Good, But Don’t Pop the Champagne By Elizabeth Shell The unemployment numbers for February are in and though economist Peter Morici says " Don't Break Out the Champagne Just Yet," the data are encouraging. There are two separate surveys, remember - of "establishments" (places that employ folks) and "households"… Continue reading
Mar 03 Watch News Wrap: First-Time Claims for Unemployment Benefits Hit 3-Year Low In other news Thursday, first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest number in three years. Hiring in the service sector grew at the fastest rate since 2006. Also, a retired FBI agent who disappeared in Iran while working… Continue watching
Feb 04 Watch Shields and Brooks on Obama’s Egypt Stance, Debt-Limit Fight Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks discuss the week's political developments, including the most recent unemployment report, the U.S. response to unrest in Egypt and the brewing fight in Washington over government debt. Continue watching
Feb 04 A Disjointed Jobs Report and U-7, Month Two By Paul Solman Today's unemployment data are a muddle. The two surveys - of individuals and of employers - seem to say very different things. Unemployment dropped - to 9 percent, according to the "household survey." Three cheers. But the "payroll… Continue reading