Unemployment vs. Job Openings
May 11, 2021 The Labor Department reported that job openings rose 597 thousand in March or 7.9% to a record 8,123 thousand after having risen 6.0% in February and 5.1% in January The previous record high level for job openings was 7,574 thousand back in November...
Demand Surges, Employers Struggle
May 7, 2021 Payroll employment rose 266 thousand in April which was far smaller than the 950 thousand increase that had been expected. Firms are struggling to find an adequate number of workers to satisfy the growing demand. To a large extent the shortfall can be...
GDP, Inflation, and Interest Rate Forecasts
May 7, 2021 . The latest round of $1,400 tax stimulus checks sharply boosted retail sales in March. And if that is not enough, the virus is rapidly getting under control and some epidemiologists expect herd immunity to be achieved by May. Given all of that, we...
Payroll Employment
May 7, 2021 Payroll employment rose just 266 thousand in April which was far less than the expected increase of 950 thousand. That compared to an increase of 770 thousand in March. In addition to hiring people, businesses can also lengthen the hours of existing...
Private Employment
M May 7, 2021 Private sector employment rose just 218 thousand in April which was far less than the expected increase of 950 thousand. That compared to an increase of 708 thousand in March. In addition to hiring people, businesses can also lengthen the hours of...
Unemployment Rate
May 7 2021 The unemployment rate rose 0.1% in April to 6.1% after having fallen 0.2% in March. After having jumped 10.3 percentage points in April from 4.4% to 14.7% the unemployment rat has been steadily declining but it now appears that employers are having...
Nonfarm Workweek
May 7 2021 In any given month employers can boost output by either additional hiring or by lengthening the number of hours that their employees work. Payroll employment rose by a mere 266 thousand in April was far less than the increase of 950 thousand that was...
Average Hourly Earnings
May 7, 2021 Average hourly earnings jumped 0.7% in April to $30.17 after having declined 0.1% in March. Earnings often decline somewhat when the large majority of the increase in employment was in lower paying jobs -- in this case the leisure and hospitality...
Average Duration of Unemployment
May 7, 2021 The average duration of unemployment fell 0.9 week in april to 28.8 weeks after rising by 2.1 weeks in March. Many of the people that became unemployed earlier in 2020 remain unemployed. Stephen Slifer NumberNomics Charleston,...
Nonfarm Productivity
May 6, 2021 Non-farm productivity rose 5.4% in the first quarter after having declined 3.8% in the fourth quarter. The first quarter increase consisted of an 8.4% increase in output combined with a 2.9% increase in hours worked. Hence, a 5.4% increase in...
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