Lately labor statistics are looking more and more like a return to normal. The depth of the recession has been so prolonged, to see any real positives for the U.S. workforce seems like a fantasy dream. Yet, the dream is becoming real, or so says the BLS JOLTS report. Jobs are finally coming back.
The April unemployment rate remained the same, yet unlike the past few months, the lack of change was not due to people dropping out of the workforce. Instead the participation rate ticked up a smidgen and more people were considered employed. The official unemployment rate is 5.4%, a tenth of a percentage point lower than last month.
The March unemployment rate remained the same, yet once again the BLS survey showed another huge increase in those not considered part of the labor force anymore and as a result the figure hit a record 93.175 million high. The official unemployment rate is 5.5%. The labor participation rate is also 62.7% and remains at 37 year record lows. From a year ago, the number of people considered not in the labor force has increased by over two million.
The BLS JOLTS report, or Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey shows there are 1.8 official unemployed per job opening for January 2015. Job openings were around five million. Job openings returned to pre-recession levels while overall hires has also increased to pre-recession levels.
The February unemployment rate dropped yet again on a huge decline of those not considered part of the labor force anymore. The official unemployment rate is now 5.5%, a -0.2 drop from last month. The labor participation rate is at 37 year record lows. From a year ago, the number of people considered not in the labor force has increased by 1.5 million.
The BLS employment report is another good showing for payroll jobs as growth was 257,000. January is the month of revisions and November 2014 is now a 423,000 jobs added blowout with December 2014 not far behind with 329,000 jobs added. We're on year eight after the start of the great recession and 2014 is finally when America started seeing some jobs growth.
The December unemployment rate dropped on almost half a million more people considered not part of the labor force. The official unemployment rate is now 5.6%, a -0.2 drop from last month. The labor participation rate went back to 38 year record lows and is 62.7%. From a year ago, the number of people considered not in the labor force has increased by 1.2 million those considered employed grew by 2.7 million.
The BLS JOLTS report, or Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey shows there are 1.9 official unemployed per job opening for October 2014. Job openings were around 4.8 million. Job openings returned to pre-recession levels while hires has increased 33% since June 2009. In just the private sector job openings have also recovered to precession levels while private hires have increased 40% from their 2009 lows.
The BLS Npvember current population survey unemployment report shows almost a static situation from last month, unlike the reported payroll gains portion of the jobs report. The unemployment rate did not change and is still 5.8%. The labor participation rate also did not change from the very low, 62.8%. Even the unemployed's increase of 115,000 is statistically insignificant.
The BLS employment report shows total nonfarm payroll jobs gained were 214,000 for Cctober 2014, with private payrolls adding 209,000 jobs and government jobs gaining 5,000. This article graphs the jobs gained since the recession.
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