Unemployment rate falls to 9.0% in January; payroll employment changes little (+36,000)

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- JANUARY 2011

The unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 9.0 percent in
January, while nonfarm payroll employment changed little (+36,000),
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment rose in
manufacturing and in retail trade but was down in construction and in
transportation and warehousing. Employment in most other major
industries changed little over the month.

Household Survey Data

The unemployment rate (9.0 percent) declined by 0.4 percentage point
for the second month in a row. (See table A-1.) The number of
unemployed persons decreased by about 600,000 in January to 13.9
million, while the labor force was unchanged. (Based on data adjusted
for updated population controls. See table C.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men
(8.8 percent), whites (8.0 percent), and Hispanics (11.9 percent)
declined in January. The unemployment rates for adult women (7.9
percent), teenagers (25.7 percent), and blacks (15.7 percent) were
little changed. The jobless rate for Asians was 6.9 percent, not
seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

The number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs fell
from 8.9 to 8.5 million in January. The number of long-term unemployed
(those jobless for 27 weeks or more) edged down to 6.2 million and
accounted for 43.8 percent of the unemployed. (See tables A-11 and A-
12.)

Read more: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

[katnapped]

1. Gee, who'da thunk it

Businesses ain't hiring...go figure! :sarcasm:

[fasttense]

2. While the labor force was unchanged?

So, 150,000 people a month are normally going into the workforce due to population growth alone, yet the labor force was unchanged?

Did the BLS outsource their work to India? Because the unemployment numbers have not added up for a very long time.

One thing to be considered though is that high unemployment areas such as the inner city and Appalachia are rarely, if ever, surveyed in the Household survey.

[Javaman]

7. Shhh, stop bringing facts and reason into the conversation.

what did I tell you about that?

[bluestateguy]

3. Once again the fools at ADP fuck it up

They really should stop it with these monthly counts (ADP). They are just embarrassing themselves.

[DallasNE]

5. ADP Report Is Only Private Sector Jobs

So in the current environment they will always look better than the BLS report because government at all levels is shedding jobs as a result of budget cuts. For some reason BLS did not list a stand-alone number for the private sector. The companion weekly first time claims number also supports a better labor market than the BLS survey. Are people starting to lie in the survey like they do in exit polling?

[Roland99]

4. finagling of numbers. 600K less unemployed due to population control effects?

[tabasco]

6. LOL! I knew this would be bad news here at DU!

You never disappoint. :dunce:

[Roland99]

8. So, in your mind, "updated population controls" equates to a much-improved economy?

:eyes:

[tabasco]

13. It would be better if the rate went up, right?

Yaaay!!!!!

[Roland99]

15. Facts just aren't your strong point, are they?

Go ahead and keep on thinking that real unemployment just dropped by almost 0.5%.

Oh, how's that unicorn of yours doing?

[Psephos]

9. This silly number is "adjusted" to not count people who've stopped looking for work.

That's right, if you're out of work long enough to be frustrated or disheartened, you disappear from the count and that makes unemployment "go down" because you're supposedly not interested in working any more. If you were laid off from a career salary position, and now work part-time at JiffyLube, you also disappear from the count.

The statistical number that shows actual unemployment is called U-6, and it's currently around 16%. Technically, U-6 is defined as "total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force."

Go to http://www.bls.gov and search for U-6 (that's the Bureau of Labor Statistics site).

Here is the table showing the various unemployment numbers: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm

[mahatmakanejeeves]

10. Good point.

I'll try to remember to inlcude a link to that in the future.

Thanks for posting.

[humblebum]

11. That point cannot be emphasized enough.

And any politician who encourages businesses to leave the US or has anything to do with like legislation needs to be chatized severely. There is no more important issue than jobs and keeping American dollars in this country.

[OnlinePoker]

12. Not just adjusting numbers for those stopping work

A post I made earlier today on the Stock Market thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4721415&mesg_id=4721686

[taught_me_patience]

14. It looks like the street doesn't buy the news

The 10yr sold off hard today! WOW!

[truthisfreedom]

16. That's a good figure to be at. Next time it drops, it'll be in the 8s.