Nonfarm Workweek

February 7, 2025 In any given month employers can boost output by either additional hiring workers or by lengthening the number of  hours that their employees work.  Payroll employment climbed by 143 thousand in January.  The December gain was revised upwards by 51...

Average Hourly Earnings

February 7, 2025 Average  hourly earnings rose 0.5% in January to $35.87 after having gained 0.3% in December.  Earnings growth  in the past year has been 4.1%. While nominal earnings have risen 4.1% in the past year, inflation has risen fairly quickly and real or...

Average Duration of Unemployment

February 7, 2025 The average duration of unemployment fell 1.7 weeks to 22.0 in January after increasing 0.1 week in December,  It appears that unemployment workers are having a somewhat more difficult time becoming reemployed than they were six months or so ago....

Nonfarm Productivity

February 6, 2025 Non-farm productivity 1.2% in the fourth quarter after climbing 2.3% in the third quarter and 2.1% in the second quarter.   The fourth quarter increase consisted of a 2.3% increase in output combined with a 1.0% increase in hours worked. Hence, a 1.2%...

Unit Labor Costs

February 6, 2025 Unit labor costs might be a term that is not familiar to you.  Unit labor costs represent the increase in compensation adjusted for the gains in productivity.  You might think that if labor costs are rising that would put upward pressure on...

Hourly Compensation

February 6, 2025 The Bureau of Labor Statistics  indicated that hourly compensation rose 4.2% in the fourth quarter after climbing by 2.9% in the third quarter.  In the past year compensation has risen 4.3%. Growth in hourly compensation is a good thing, but that...