Job growth rebounded to 164,000 in April, unemployment edged down to 3.9 percent

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 164,000 in April, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.9 percent, due mostly to the labor force shrinking by 236,000 as Baby Boomers step up retirement. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, manufacturing, health care, and mining.

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BLS: December job growth of 148,000, unemployment remained at 4.1 percent

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 148,000 in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent. Employment gains occurred in health care, construction, and manufacturing.

The labor force participation rate, at 62.7 percent, was unchanged over the month and over the year. The employment-population ratio was unchanged at 60.1 percent in December but was up by 0.3 percentage point over the year.

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Job openings rose 1.1 percent in March

The number of job openings was rose 1.1 percent to 5.7 million on the last business day of March. Over the month, hires rose 0.2 percent to 5.3 million, and separations rose 1.6 percent to 5.1 million, respectively.

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Job growth remained robust in January

More good news on the job front!  From the L.A. Times:

The economy had another robust month of job growth in January, adding 257,000 net new positions and producing the best wage gains in more than six years…

The unemployment rate ticked up to 5.7%, but that was because 703,000 more people entered the labor force, a positive sign for the jobs market…

In addition to January's job growth, the Labor Department said the economy added an additional 147,000 net new jobs combined in November and December…

The upward revisions mean the U.S. economy added just over 1 million net new jobs in the three months ending Jan. 30, the first time that's happened since 1997...

To read the entire BLS press release, click here.

Employment rose by 214,000 in October as unemployment rate edged down to 5.8 percent

It looks like the trend towards continued strong job growth continued in October.  From today's press release:

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 214,000 in October, and the unemployment rate edged down to 5.8 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in food services and drinking places, retail trade, and health care...

Since the beginning of the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons have declined by 0.8 percentage point and 1.2 million, respectively.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for whites declined to 4.8 percent in October. The rates for adult men (5.1 percent), adult women (5.4 percent), teenagers (18.6 percent), blacks (10.9 percent), and Hispanics (6.8 percent) changed little over the month. The jobless rate for Asians was 5.0 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier.

In October, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 2.9 million. These individuals accounted for 32.0 percent of the unemployed. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed has declined by 1.1 million.

The civilian labor force participation rate was little changed at 62.8 percent in October and has been essentially flat since April. The employment-population ratio increased to 59.2 percent in October... 

Employment also continued to trend up in transportation and warehousing (+13,000) and construction (+12,000)...

Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.0 percent...

BuilderBytes' MetroIntelligence Economic Update for 10/13/2011

Please click here to see the edition of BuilderBytes for 10/13/2011 on the Web. In this issue of the MetroIntelligence Economic Update, I covered the following indicators:

• Federal Reserve Open Market Committee Split on Need for More Quantitative Easing
• Mortgage Bankers See Slow Growth in Loan Originations and Drop in Refinancings for 2012
• Mortgage Applications Rise by 1.3% Over Previous Week
• Bureau of Labor Statistics Says Job Openings "Little Changed" in August
  

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