Job growth in October doubled analyst expectations.
·
· August and September data were revised higher by a combined 110,000.
· Since employment bottomed last December, the labor market has expanded by 874,000. This is just 10 percent of the jobs lost in 2008 and 2009, and the rate of improvement has been disappointing, but the trend is up. Average monthly private sector job growth this year was 79,000 in the first quarter, 118,000 in the second quarter and 122,000 in the third quarter. October’s 159,000 private sector jobs provide a running start for the fourth quarter.
· The growth in October was led by education and health services with 53,000, professional and business services with 46,000 (including 34,900 temp jobs) and 27,900 in retail trade. Manufacturers laid off 7,000.
· Average hourly earnings and average weekly hours both increased slightly
· The household survey revealed that the unemployment rate remained stable at 9.6 percent as both total employment and the labor force declined. The household survey does a better job than the establishment survey of tracking changes in employment at small businesses and among the self-employed – a sign that small businesses remain stressed.
The October employment report is not a blow-out number by any means, but along with other indicators such as the ISM manufacturing and non-manufacturing indexes, factory orders, vehicle sales and consumer spending, it suggests the economy is slowly gathering momentum.
No comments:
Post a Comment