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U.S. Economy Added 162,000 Jobs in March, Most in 3 Years

Ya know the census needs 700,000 workers and pays $22/hr.
 
I dig the employment news, including the fact the the labor force is expanding while unemployment is dropping a bit.

However, this is small beans in the real economic world which sees the US Treasury losing it's AAA bond rating, a massively expensive entitlement program being piled on top of two already bankrupt entitlement programs, and Obama's proposed spending leading the CBO conclude that deficits will amount to 90% of GDP by 2019.

Lets maintain some perspective here...shall we?
 
I dig the employment news, including the fact the the labor force is expanding while unemployment is dropping a bit.

However, this is small beans in the real economic world which sees the US Treasury losing it's AAA bond rating, a massively expensive entitlement program being piled on top of two already bankrupt entitlement programs, and Obama's proposed spending leading the CBO conclude that deficits will amount to 90% of GDP by 2019.

Lets maintain some perspective here...shall we?

Yes. In this case, it's all about trajectory. Things are looking up ... hopefully we can maintain that momentum.

Trajectory, sadly, also applies to the debt problems.
 
162,000 Jobs Added in March - Rate Remains 9.7% - NYTimes.com



The real number is 123,000 jobs, since the temp census jobs don't really count in my opinion. However this is a very good sign. So what is your opinion, are we on the road to recovery or not? What do you base it on?

Personally, I am hopeful, but I am not prepared to call anything at this time.

Hiring for the Census started about the same time. Fancy that. What's going to happen when the Census is finished?
 
My experience of Politicians and their antics lead me to believe that whatever 'good' news will come out between now and the Midterms, the news afterward will be so dire that people should remember what they thought before 'CHANGE' and the actuality after 'CHANGE'!

What I would be delighted to see would be a breakdown of these 162,000 'New' jobs, as for example:-

Manufacturing = ?
Services = ?
Health = ?
Census = 48,000
Government = ?
Retail = ?
Catering = ?

This would then give us a good idea of how well the American economy is emerging from this Recession.

For America to begin healing, we need the Manufacturing to be of paramount importance because unless we can sell our production or Services we will only continue going downhill.
 
My experience of Politicians and their antics lead me to believe that whatever 'good' news will come out between now and the Midterms, the news afterward will be so dire that people should remember what they thought before 'CHANGE' and the actuality after 'CHANGE'!

What I would be delighted to see would be a breakdown of these 162,000 'New' jobs, as for example:-

Manufacturing = ?
Services = ?
Health = ?
Census = 48,000
Government = ?
Retail = ?
Catering = ?

This would then give us a good idea of how well the American economy is emerging from this Recession.

For America to begin healing, we need the Manufacturing to be of paramount importance because unless we can sell our production or Services we will only continue going downhill.

Knowledge is half the battle, right?

Here you go!

The Bureau of Labor Statistics compiles and maintains labor-related data. Their the folks that release the monthly employment situation reports.
 
My experience of Politicians and their antics lead me to believe that whatever 'good' news will come out between now and the Midterms, the news afterward will be so dire that people should remember what they thought before 'CHANGE' and the actuality after 'CHANGE'!

Although risks exist and some headwinds persist e.g., the commercial real estate sector's difficulties, the economy has resumed a growth path. With aggregate demand having stabilized and likely in the early stages of a recovery, the employment outlook has also improved.

Even as it will take time for the high unemployment rate to decline and net job growth could be somewhat volatile, net job creation should become more persistent and robust in coming months. On that matter, I believe both Alan Greenspan and Lawrence Summers reasonably describe the situation.

Down the road, another possible challenge will entail the hand-off from public efforts at stimulating the economy to the private sector. Timing and magnitude of stimulus withdrawal will be key to determining how the transition fares. For now, at least, the economy is again growing and the employment market has stabilized and may be entering the early stages of a resumption in growth.
 
Although risks exist and some headwinds persist e.g., the commercial real estate sector's difficulties, the economy has resumed a growth path. With aggregate demand having stabilized and likely in the early stages of a recovery, the employment outlook has also improved.

Even as it will take time for the high unemployment rate to decline and net job growth could be somewhat volatile, net job creation should become more persistent and robust in coming months. On that matter, I believe both Alan Greenspan and Lawrence Summers reasonably describe the situation.

Down the road, another possible challenge will entail the hand-off from public efforts at stimulating the economy to the private sector. Timing and magnitude of stimulus withdrawal will be key to determining how the transition fares. For now, at least, the economy is again growing and the employment market has stabilized and may be entering the early stages of a resumption in growth.
And this will occur in spite of the new healthcare law.
 
And this will occur in spite of the new healthcare law.

The new law's more significant provisions e.g., the 3.8% tax hike on unearned income, don't go into effect for a number of years. I suspect that tax hike on investment income will have a modest adverse impact on investment activity and long-run competitiveness/growth. I don't believe it is of a magnitude necessary to choke off all job/economic growth. In the long-term, as the package is largely an expansion of coverage established on the broken foundation of a health care system for which no meaningful action has been taken to address the issue of excessive cost growth, the burdens of the overall system will grow more substantial. Failure to address the excess cost issue poses a long-term threat to the U.S. economy and is at the heart of a large part of the nation's long-term fiscal imbalances e.g., those associated with Medicare.

But that's looking farther out. In the near-term, the overall shift in the business cycle should be sufficiently resilient to allow for net job growth. One wildcard, as noted earlier was the hand-off from fiscal stimulus to the private sector. Another one down the road concerns how the 2001 and 2003 tax packages are resolved. Some tax cuts will probably need to be preserved (ideally with offsetting spending reductions, but the lack of fiscal discipline in Washington argues that meaningful offsets are unlikely), but others will need to be allowed to phase out for purposes of making a credible downpayment on fiscal consolidation.

Blanket renewal of all the tax cuts would probably be seen in the markets as a lack of commitment to fiscal consolidation and there would probably be some uptick in long-term interest rates. That increase in long-term rates could raise the cost of capital to an extent necessary to undermine economic growth and outweigh the benefits of renewing all the tax cuts. Failure to renew any tax cuts would likely create a significant drag on economic growth that would likely outweigh perceived benefits of fiscal consolidation, leading to a fresh self-inflicted economic shock. Whether or not Washington's highly partisan political environment will be able to find a reasonable balance remains to be seen.
 
there is no reasonable balance, there is no reason

real estate is not our only headwind (a more apt metaphor would be coast-to-coast la brea tar pit)

there's commercial real estate, as well, facing similar pop-prone pressures

there're all these uncertainties facing business, ie, hirers, surrounding health care, energy...

they are downers on hiring, expanding, pay, housing, spending and govt intake

if timing is key you can count on these keystone accountants to make all THEIR deft-touched decisions with a FINGER in the political wind

EXPEDIENCY and not economics will energize THIS crowd

as we've seen with the recent "jobs bill," the STIMULUS leadership can never again call a STIMULUS

it began as 160B in pelosi's place, got shaved in half by baucus-grassley in the GATEWAY (senate finance), until hassled harry in a huff hewed it down to 15 cents

what became of the "bank tax," the "spending freeze," the "debt commission," all centerpieces of the state of the union that never was?

big picture---what became of the anxiously anticipated PIVOT to jobs?

he's STILL selling health care in carolina, seventeen uninterrupted, unintelligible minutes of mumbling about f-maps

big picture---real estate, obamacare and cap and trade are not the only stormfronts facing our shipwreck of an economy

service on the DEBT, mere INTEREST ALONE, is to approach ONE TRILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR beginning in about 2017

News Headlines
 
The one issue I have with this is that I cannot find the specification of jobs added in March.

It seemed that the recession primarily hit middle class light-blue to white collar workers (real estate agents, construction managers, etc.). A job is just not a job, for all the stories of "previous seven figure executive finds new enjoyment delivering pizza" there is a plethora of people being turned away for being overly qualified.
 
I'll get the word out on the street to the 15 million people without jobs that they should be celebrating. Thanks.

I think most jobless people want a job, which means they see this as a sign of hope. Unlike those who hope they won't get jobs just so they can win an election or prove a point.
 
Obama needs more than 300,000 jobs to help his problem. That's nothing.

If the unemployment rate is over 10% in most states then, how is that we added jobs? Does this take in to account jobs that were previously lost? I don't understand how this is great news.
 
If the unemployment rate is over 10% in most states then, how is that we added jobs? Does this take in to account jobs that were previously lost? I don't understand how this is great news.

It is great news because jobs were added rather then lost.

Unless you feel losing 200 000 is bad news and gaining 160 000 is bad news as well

Does it mean the US is on the road to recovery not all all, but it certainly is better then losing jobs
 
It is great news because jobs were added rather then lost.

Unless you feel losing 200 000 is bad news and gaining 160 000 is bad news as well

Does it mean the US is on the road to recovery not all all, but it certainly is better then losing jobs

well on that note, i'd say that it's better than a poke in the eye.
 
What percentage of this is government-related jobs?

I know many companies are getting ready for another big round of layoffs. We're doing it here, I assure you.

The economy is crap right now, and the market spike is a bubble that will soon burst. Get your 401Ks over to money market sometime in the next 90 days.
 
well on that note, i'd say that it's better than a poke in the eye.

In itself it is not encouraging, but it is a part of a trend towards recovery. The hope is that more jobs will be added each month and unemployment numbers will start trending downward. These things take time though.
 
well on that note, i'd say that it's better than a poke in the eye.

But not better than a kick in the teeth and a dagger up the stem, which is what we got.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sstrj15XpWQ"]YouTube- Take Your Pick - Monty Python's Flying Circus[/nomedia]
 
What percentage of this is government-related jobs?

I know many companies are getting ready for another big round of layoffs. We're doing it here, I assure you.

The economy is crap right now, and the market spike is a bubble that will soon burst. Get your 401Ks over to money market sometime in the next 90 days.

I agree. Most added jobs were temps and government jobs. The economy is in much worse shape than they're telling us. Unemployment benefits are running out which will lead to a million more foreclosures and bankruptcies. The Commercial real estate sector is just beginning to collapse.
Banks appear to be doing better because they don't pay anything for their money and they stuck all their toxic assets into holding companies.
The main reason for the stock market surge was low interest rates. People can not get any return in other investments. It is due for another major adjustment downward.
 
Just speaking from experience, Target recently restructured. My GF was running a Starbucks there, but now she runs Starbucks and the Pizza Hut. No raise. They just eliminated the other "Lead". I wonder how much companies can continue to "trim the fat" before they just can't float anymore.


I agree. Most added jobs were temps and government jobs. The economy is in much worse shape than they're telling us. Unemployment benefits are running out which will lead to a million more foreclosures and bankruptcies. The Commercial real estate sector is just beginning to collapse.
Banks appear to be doing better because they don't pay anything for their money and they stuck all their toxic assets into holding companies.
The main reason for the stock market surge was low interest rates. People can not get any return in other investments. It is due for another major adjustment downward.
 
I think most jobless people want a job, which means they see this as a sign of hope.
Unfortunately for them, hope doesn't put food on the table. Jobs do.
 
New healthcare law is full of unknowns - latimes.com

people don't tend to expand or hire when they face so many unknowns and uncertainties

exactly how health care's new mandates play out upon individuals, upon businesses large and small, upon health providers, etc, amount right now for an awful lot of people to something like 2700 pages of ?'s

here, the la times points up a problem you're going to be hearing an awful lot about

it's an argument now mainstream in massachusetts

that is, traffic in ER's, emergency rooms, expected to decrease under obamacare as folks find insurance, is instead likely to go up---because people in large numbers refuse to wait so long for appointments to see their family doctors, drive to ER instead to force the issue

http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2008/10/06/costly_er_still_draws_many_now_insured/

this is what's happened in romney-land and it's one of the prime movers behind massachusetts leading the nation in costs

this is a central weakness to obamacare---the INCREASE in ER traffic

another is the mandate on already bankrupt states to pick up new medicaid patients---a half million in LA county, according to the times

big picture---uncertainties in the trillions surround our entire economy under this clueless leadership

at times like these

worry
 
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Unfortunately for them, hope doesn't put food on the table. Jobs do.

Of course. Hope is hope. Not to be oversold, or undersold either.
 
With respect to the job market, which appears to have stabilized, and is possibly in the early stages of a resumption of growth, CNBC reported today:

The Labor Department says job openings rose in several sectors of the economy in February, including retail, manufacturing, restaurants and hotels, and transportation.

The report is consistent with other surveys showing hiring is picking up in those areas. It also echoes last week's employment report, which showed broad job gains in March.

News Headlines

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' report cited in the news article can be found at:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/jolts.pdf
 
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With respect to the job market, which appears to have stabilized, and is possibly in the early stages of a resumption of growth, CNBC reported today:



News Headlines

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' report cited in the news article can be found at:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/jolts.pdf
Thanks for providing the source document. The cherry-pickers at the AP make it sound like things are going so great. The most important line in the article is the last one... "Total job openings declined in February, a sign that hiring remains sluggish."

For all the gains they chose to report in the article, there are equivalent losses in other sectors they chose NOT to report (Professional and Business Services, Education and Health Services, Arts and Entertainment, Government) for a net result of :shrug:.

Or as the BLS put it... "The job openings rate was little changed over the month at 2.1 percent."

Now's the part where everyone lambastes me for being "overly political" in bringing to light the simple facts.
 
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