BLS report clearly shows the economy is moving in the right direction

[ProSense]

<...>

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment edged down in December (-85,000). Job losses
continued in construction, manufacturing, and wholesale trade, while temporary
help services and health care continued to add jobs. During 2009, monthly job
losses moderated substantially. Employment losses in the first quarter of 2009
averaged 691,000 per month, compared with an average loss of 69,000 per month
in the fourth quarter. (See table B-1.)

Construction employment declined by 53,000 in December, with job losses
throughout the industry. Employment in construction has fallen by 1.6 mil-
lion since the recession began.

In December, employment in manufacturing decreased by 27,000. The average
monthly decline for the last 6 months of 2009 (-41,000) was much lower than
the average monthly decline for the first half of the year (-171,000). Since
the recession began, manufacturing employment has fallen by 2.1 million; three-
fourths of this drop occurred in the durable goods component (-1.6 million).

Wholesale trade employment declined by 18,000 in December, with the majority of
the decline occurring among durable goods wholesalers. Employment in retail
trade was little changed over the month, although general merchandise stores
lost 15,000 jobs.

Temporary help services added 47,000 jobs in December. Since reaching a low
point in July, temporary help services employment has risen by 166,000.

Health care employment continued to increase in December (22,000), with notable
gains in offices of physicians (9,000) and home health care services (8,000).
The health care industry has added 631,000 jobs since the recession began.

In December, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on
private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.2 hours. The manufacturing work-
week, at 40.4 hours, and factory overtime, at 3.4 hours, were unchanged over
the month. Since May, the manufacturing workweek has increased by 1.0 hour.
(See table B-2.)

In December, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers
on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 3 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $18.80. Over
the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.2 percent, while
average weekly earnings have risen by 1.9 percent. (See table B-3.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for October was revised from
-111,000 to -127,000, and the change for November was revised from -11,000 to
+4,000.

link

[rhett o rick]

1. Good news, the Titanic is sinking slower than it was. So buy now, buy into the bubble

early. Get your snake oil, errr i mean stocks now while they are hot.

[phleshdef]

3. Typical thing a person with no real knowledge or insight to how a recovery happens would say.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. Oh, they know a recovery's in progressive.

They just don't want it to happen.

[CakeGrrl]

8. I guess that would be why it's getting unrec'd

You can't go around reporting any SUCCESS the President might achieve. That won't work for everyone who wants to keep talking about what a disappointment he's been.

:crazy:

[Cha]

32. That's right, CakeGrrl..Down with Reality..

Up with holding on to the last threads of whatever jane hamsher says is the talking point of the day.

[rhett o rick]

21. LOL. That's like saying the guy who questions the snake oil salesman, doesnt want

rheumatism cured. And I am disappointed that you would state that I dont want a recovery without any dialog with me at all.

[rhett o rick]

22. Yeah a Summers/Bernanke recovery. Wall Street and the Banks are recovering. nt

[rhett o rick]

19. Is that a personal attack? I didnt think that was allowed here. Shame on you.

When someone starts off calling names, it is apparent that honest dialog is not coming.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

2. To summarize....

Job losses have decreased by up to 90% since the beginning of the year.

Employers are using overtime and temporary labor in lieu of hiring fulltime workers. This is a common occurrence during the early stages of an economic recovery. Businesses don't want to commit to new, fulltime employees until they're sure that the recovery has some staying power.

NOW is the time for a second economic stimulus package aimed directly at job creation. The first stimulus put out the fire -- like it or not, saving the banking infrastructure was necessary -- but now we need to jumpstart payrolls.

[NJmaverick]

5. Guess the pessimists were wrong

:)

[rhett o rick]

23. yeah and there really isnt 17% unemployment, and 122 people arent dieing every day

from lack of health care, and people arent living in cars and tents. Who is "recovering" besides the banks and wall street?

[ananda]

6. So BLS stands for BuLLShit?

hmm

[HughMoran]

9. Backstabbing Liberals - Surprise!

:P

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

11. ....

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Nicely done.

[dugaresa]

14. more like Big Load of Shit

[flyarm]

7. The economy is great if you have a job..it sucks if you are one of the millions upon millions

without a job..with no prospects of a job in the near future..or if you are among those who are now "underemployed"

Fucking polls and bullkshit reports don't mean jack shit to those who can't find work!

Come on down here to Florida or go out to California and ask the millions out of work how good the economy is!!..and don't tell them is is getting good..you might get slapped.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

12. The Economy Is Tanking!!!!!!!

Feel better now?

Seriously. The trend since Obama took office has been that the train-wreck the Bush left behind is getting cleaned up. It took six years of malicious activity by the last administration and the Republican Congress to screw things up this badly. Do you think that Obama (or anybody else) can come in and make everything better in a matter of weeks or months?

We reached a low point this year, and we're moving back int he right direction. I don't expect you to turn cartwheels over news like this, but it doesn't warrant anybody getting slapped.

[flyarm]

27. Dec numbers bad..so what is so damn good to you?

December usually sees an uptick of employment for Xmas..UPS, Retail, Restaurants..

so what is so damn good to you??????..our shopping malls were empty here in Fla..

I was even in Beverly Hills days before Xmas..and it was like a Ghost town..so what is so fucking damn good?


Obama Addresses Job Numbers, Talks Up Clean Energy
Fri Jan-08-10 06:02 PM
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/20...

OBAMA ADDRESSES JOB NUMBERS, TALKS UP CLEAN ENERGY.... The December job numbers that were released this morning were obviously disappointing, falling short of expectations. President Obama, who was scheduled to address the employment report before the numbers were even available, responded to the report at a White House event this afternoon.

"The jobs numbers that were released by the Labor Department this morning are a reminder that the road to recovery is never straight, and that we have to continue to work every single day to get our economy moving again," the president said. He added, "Job losses for the last quarter of 2009 were one-tenth of what we were experiencing in the first quarter. In fact, in November we saw the first gain in jobs in nearly two years. Last month, however, we slipped back, losing more jobs than we gained, though the overall trend of job loss is still pointing in the right direction. What this underscores, though, is that we have to continue to explore every avenue to accelerate the return to hiring, which brings me to my announcement today."

[flyarm]

28. You are delusional..I didn't say it was tanking..but fluff your pom poms..and get real!

me thinks you are delusional..like i said..if you have a job it is a good economy..if you don't ..it is the end of the world..or close to it..and we have record unemployment for a long periods of time.

Tell me ..how do they eat and pay mortgages, and feed their kids without a job?????????

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x74434

Record 40% Of Unemployed Without Job For 27+ Weeks

[ShortnFiery]

10. Bunk!

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

13. Please, Obama should be able to fart and move us to 4.7% unemployment.

That's what I was promised. He's just a corporate sellout that wants to see less people work so that the corporations have... less people to sell their goods to? Sorry, I ran out of steam there - there's only so long I can run on "idiot" (aka DU Troll/Naderite).

[damonm]

17. Good. For a moment there,

I thought I was going to have to pull this out on you...

[ipaint]

15. Unfortunately in the real world of the long term unemployed

Unemployment is up.

"However, Friday's report also pointed to continued structural deterioration in the U.S. labor market. Four in 10 unemployed Americans — 6.1 million of the 15.2 million jobless workers — have been without jobs for 27 weeks or more, the BLS said, adding that the number of people exiting the work force also increased in December.

"The real news in these data is the 1.9 million erosion of the labor force — those seeking work or working — since May, with a 661,000 decline last month alone,” said Lawrence Mishel, the president of the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal policy-research group. "Absent this flight from the labor market the unemployment rate would have risen substantially in December — up 0.4 percent — rather than hold steady."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/81957.html

[ProSense]

16. EPI: "this report is much better news than those from the first 10 months of 2009"

Labor market closes 2009 with no sign of robust jobs recovery

<...>

After very weak growth earlier in 2009, wages now appear to be growing modestly. Nominal hourly wages of production workers grew 3.9% from December 2007 to December 2008 but dropped to 2.2% growth from December 2008 to December 2009, including a 2.6% annualized growth rate over the last three months. Nominal weekly wages of production workers grew 2.4% from December 2007 to December 2008 but dropped to 1.9% growth from December 2008 to December 2009. This included a 3.8% annualized growth rate over the last three months.

Major sectors that saw growth were professional and business services (which includes temporary help services), adding 50,000 jobs, and education and health services, which added 35,000. Government lost 21,000 jobs under the pressure of budget cuts (-9,000 federal, including large layoffs of U.S. Postal Service workers, -3,000 state, and -9,000 local). Basically all other major sectors saw losses. Construction lost 53,000 in December after losing an average of 45,300 per month for the previous three months. Like the rest of 2009, most of the December construction losses were in nonresidential and heavy construction, compared to 2008, when most construction losses were in residential. Manufacturing saw a decline of 27,000 in December after losing an average of 41,300 per month for the previous three months. Wholesale trade lost 18,200 in December after losing an average of 8,100 per month for the previous three months, compared to retail trade, which lost 10,200 in December after losing an average of 31,000 per month for the previous three months.

Broadly speaking, this report is much better news than those from the first 10 months of 2009, but it nevertheless offers no signs of a robust jobs recovery. And given the 10.6 million jobs gap in the labor market, it will take enormous levels of growth for the labor market to recover any time soon. The economic case for additional government intervention to create jobs is unmistakable.

It may not be robust recovery, but it is improving.

[ipaint]

18. My response to same post you made in another thread -

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=115593&mesg_id=115697

[uponit7771]

25. DAMN!! BLS taks workers OUT of the sample pool AGAIN!! They don't count the non seekers

[PBS Poll-435]

20. K&R

And I hope the recession cheerleaders have a nice fucking Friday.



:-)

[rhett o rick]

24. Arent statistics wonderful. The rate at which construction works are losing their jobs is decreasin...

Of course it is and will continue to decrease until there are no more people employed in construction. After that the number losing their construction jobs will be zero. After millions have ALREADY lost their jobs, there are less left to lose their jobs.

I believe unemployment is 17+%. Bring that number down and I will say we are on the right path.

[uponit7771]

26. Did the BLS lower the labor pool again? The U6 keeps goin up...

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

29. Yeah, but only by 840,000.

[Odin2005]

30. People don't eat in a year, they eat every day.

That's why cheerleaders like Prononsense hide themselves behind impersonal numbers.

[David Zephyr]

31. Give it a friggin' rest already. The economy and the employment situation is dire.

You continue to try to paint a rosy picture when the situation is ominous. We are probably going to have another dip by the 3rd Quarter and the mortgage ARM's are set to reset.

You continue to whistle through a graveyard and you truly look silly doing this every single day.

People know better.

[ProSense]

34. Sorry that facts annoy you.

Shouldn't you be out searching for a 2012 candidate?

[rhett o rick]

35. What facts? The statistics you gave were bogus. What is your motivation in trying to gloss over the

mess we are in? What is your motivation? 122 people are dieing everyday for lack of health care. People are living in cars and tents. I have spoken to some. Tell them that we are in recovery and to be patient. over 17% unemployment isnt recovery. Yes wall street and the bankers are recovering. Fuck them.

[ProSense]

36. Why is it okay to cite the BLS report to claim it's bad news, but bogus to cite the facts that show

improvement?

"What is your motivation in trying to gloss over the mess we are in...What is your motivation?"

Whenever someone resorts to this, and as emphatically you are doing here, it's fair to say that person has issues.

[rhett o rick]

40. You resort to claiming that I have "issues". Ahh yes I do have issues.

My issues are the millions of jobs that are leaving this country and our president isnt doing one single thing about it. YOu see, you that are so quick to say we are headed for recovery, are ignoring that we are not doing anything, not one thing to remedy what brought us to this place. President Obama with his bank bailout has only rekindled the bubble and postponing the final collapse. And it seems you are buying the snake oil.

We need manufacturing jobs now. What is president Obama doing to save and create jobs? We need jobs damn it.

Unemployment is out of sight and you say we are in recovery. I say bullshit. I ask again as to what your motivation is? do you refuse to answer?

[jesus_of_suburbia]

37. Some people are paid to post.

I don't know who they are... but there are some people who are paid to post positive information for the current administration. It happened with the last President, and it will happen with the next President (Dem or Rep).

They are here on DU. I don't know who they are, but they are here.


If you pay close attention, you can probably figure out who they are.

:D

[ProSense]

42. Some people are not very smart.

"but there are some people who are paid to post positive information for the current administration."

Not only is this a last resort for someone who has nothing but lame comebacks, you are inadvertently acknowledging that the OP is "positive information."

[Zoeisright]

50. +1

Good catch!

[stevenleser]

44. That is a ridiculous accusation to make for a number of reasons.

#1 - It is entirely unproveable. So you are essentially spreading rumors about people that cannot be substantiated.

#2 - It is entirely ad-hominem and unnecessarily so. I dont care if Martians are paying people to post. What is the quality of their argument. Address that, paid or not. If you cannot find fault with their argument, accusing them of being paid shills is a cowards way out.

#3 - People never accuse people of this when those people agree with them. Imagine that. So it is dishonest as well. What, so people who agree with you couldnt be paid shills because what YOU believe in is so pure and what they believe is so sullied?

[Cha]

33. Yes! President Obama took this

sinking ship the mofo republicons handed over and is not only getting it to float again but is turning this story around:bounce:

[boppers]

38. 631,000 jobs added in one industry alone...

If I was out of work, I know where I'd be looking.

[jillan]

39. Andrea Mitchell made an interesting point today - that alot of the jobs that were lost were in

construction, and wondered if that had to do with the weather.

If that is the case, then we should see alot of job starts when the weather starts warming up... just in time for hitting the campaign trail.

[rhett o rick]

41. Andrea Mitchell is a tool of the ruling class. She is not one of us. Fudge her and her horse. nt

[jillan]

43. I agree - but she made a good point - I mean - DUH - if it's snowing, construction jobs are going to

be put on hold.

[stevenleser]

45. Forget it Jillian, its much easier to simply go ad-hominem than to address your points.

Never mind that it says much more about the person doing it than those they are attacking.

[rhett o rick]

46. Do I understand that you support Andrea Mitchell? I hate to tell you

but there are two sides to this class war and ms. mitchell isnt on our side.

[stevenleser]

47. What you dont get is, I really dont care who says it. If you want to attack the person, at least

wait until you have addressed the points they raised. Then, by all means, have at it.

You dont even bother to address them here. You think you are hurting Andrea when what you are really doing is disrespecting the DUer who took the time to post the ideas.

[rhett o rick]

48. You dont get it. Ms. Mitchell is a tool of the ruling class. I dont give a crap what she says.

Her agenda is to crush the working class. You must decide whose side you are on. I have listened to her and find her very condescending toward the lower classes. What do you find so appealing about her?

[stevenleser]

49. Your passionate defense of plain ad-hominem (i.e. logical fallacy) arguments is telling

I don't have an opinion one way or the other about Andrea Mitchell. I've never met her and she is not someone to whom I pay a lot of attention. I couldn't recall anything that she said or believes if my life depended on it. Why it is so important for you to keep insinuating that I like her is beyond me.

The point is that another DUer brought up an idea. You disrespected the other DUer, NOT Andrea Mitchell. Andrea is not here and will not read your post. All of this sound and fury you have regarding her signifies nothing to paraphrase the bard. You didnt hurt her, you potentially hurt a fellow DUer.

And please, don't throw silly and trite slogans at me like that I "have to choose whose side I am on", particularly when you are making all sorts of unsupported allegations about who I like or what side I am on. AND FURTHERMORE, you have no excuse where I am concerned. My opinions on just about everything are out there in a few hundred articles that can be easily searched. You could look at videos of what I have said. There is no excuse for it.

[rhett o rick]

52. Andrea Mitchell epitomizes the bias of the corporate media.

I feel that she does more harm to the middle class than Ann Coulter. At least Ann makes it clear whose side she is on while Ms. Mitchell makes out like she is unbiased. I would expect her to try to find an excuse for unemployment other than our trade policies.

[HughMoran]

51. Excellent point

It's so much easier to throw out the standard "ruling class/corporatist/DLCer/etc" than actually address the point made by such 'evil' persons. It's lazy and it allows their point to go unchallenged. Glad you called them on that!

[rhett o rick]

53. One of the other posters here says that I disrespected you when I was critical of Ms. Mitchell.

I in no way intended to show disrespect for you. I apologize if it wasnt clear I was aiming my displeasure toward Ms. Mitchell. Plez read my post 52 re. my feelings toward the corporate media and Ms. Mitchell.