U.S. Jobs Report Exceeds Expectations
[guest post by Dana]
What’s not to love: unemployment falls, new jobs, wage growth:
The jobs market turned in a stellar performance in November, with nonfarm payrolls surging by 266,000 and the unemployment rate falling to 3.5%, according to Labor Department numbers released Friday.
Those totals easily beat the Wall Street consensus. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for solid job growth of 187,000 and saw the unemployment rate holding steady from October’s 3.6%. The decline in November’s jobless rate came amid a corresponding 0.1 percentage point drop in the labor force participation rate, to 63.2%.
Stocks opened sharply higher in reaction to the better-than-expected report. Bond yields also surged.
Some details:
[J]ob gains were spread among a multitude of sectors. Health care added 45,000 positions after contributing just 12,000 in October.
Leisure and hospitality increased by 45,000 and professional and business services rose by 31,000; the two sectors respectively are up 219,000 and 278,000 over the past 12 months. Wage gains also were a touch better than expectations.
Average hourly earnings rose by 3.1% from a year ago, while the average workweek held steady at 34.4 hours.
[…]
“Today’s job report, more than any other report in recent months, squashed any lingering concerns about an imminent recession in the US economy,” said Gad Levanon, head of the Conference Board’s Labor Market Institute. “Employment growth also shows no signs of slowing further despite the historically low unemployment rate.”
PS: The Dow surged 300 points today.
(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)
–Dana
Good morning.
Dana (643cd6) — 12/6/2019 @ 8:52 amOrange man bad!
B.A. DuBois (80f588) — 12/6/2019 @ 9:03 amGlad for the good economic news.
Paul Montagu (00daa1) — 12/6/2019 @ 9:16 amThe jobs report didn’t make the lead stories on my iPhone news app.
The three lead stories when I opened my phone screen this am:
Ex-Bush aide says Trump’s in trouble and his people don’t know how much
Stephen King Nails The Big Problem With Republicans’ Arguments Against Impeachment
Jane Fonda Said The Star Of “Young Sheldon” Was Upset He Was Too Young To Be Arrested At Her Climate Change Protests
And they wonder why people don’t take them seriously.
_
I’m thinking pretty soon we’ll see something like:
Misleading Jobs Report – Explained
harkin (337580) — 12/6/2019 @ 9:21 am_
Other than the unemployment number, this is good news.
As Trump’s fans said a few years ago when Obama saw similar numbers, be wary of making economic news about who the president is today. After all, the great tech boom probably wasn’t because there was a Clinton in the white house.
A big concern I have is unemployment, an Orwellian term. A lot of the low unemployment number reflects people who have given up on seeking a job. Labor participation hasn’t gotten worse with Trump, but it’s still roughly 63-64%, which was Obama’s worst performance. I blame a lot of this on the House. We are compassionate about our safety net but working in and of itself produces dignity, and idleness produces other things.
The economy is wonderful for a lot of people, but some of these numbers don’t translate well to every segment of society. A lot of hard working folks have a hard time making ends meet even if the DOW goes up.
Dustin (cafb36) — 12/6/2019 @ 9:43 amExactly, Dustin. A growing labor market increases the demand for labor, thus forcing wages higher. People who otherwise don’t want to work might be drawn into the labor force and, realistically, who wants those people around? Plus if the economy is not wonderful for every single person, even persons who don’t want to work, then what sort of monsters would want to live in such a world? Racist ones, most likely. Best that everyone be equally miserable, especially the racists. That would be most fair.
But do try to understand that this is similar to why Trump failed to cure cancer like he promised. One out of every five people dies of cancer. Heart disease kills more, it’s true, but if 20% of the population were to live longer by not dying of cancer, cases of heart disease would likely increase. Polls have been taken asking people if they would like to see the rate of heart disease go up. Overwhelming majorities said no. We don’t want rates of heart disease to increase. Plus through longer life the lifetime carbon footprints of these people surviving cancer would increase…until they die of heart disease of course. And nobody wants that to happen.
PTw (894877) — 12/6/2019 @ 10:07 amYeah but like I said, I blame a lot of this on congress. I don’t think the president can do much but stay out of the way of the economy. He shouldn’t be so powerful that he could run the economy.
Dustin (cafb36) — 12/6/2019 @ 10:17 amHe shouldn’t be so powerful that he could run the economy.
You, of course, are correct sir. So here’s a thought that just occurred to me…stay with me here as this might get a bit complicated. Perhaps, just perhaps…humor me here…that when government steps out of the way of the economy, the economy does whatever people want it to do. And perhaps when you have a people who value work, industriousness, creativity, and effort, those people become more productive and thus the economy improves on its own. Because governments picking winners and losers and imposing onerous regulations and such just might, maybe, kinda not be the right thing for governments to be doing.
Naaaaah…that’s crazy talk. Forget I ever said anything.
PTw (894877) — 12/6/2019 @ 10:33 amThat is indeed the conservative argument.
A shame there is no political party that actually supports this point of view anymore. Ever since Mitt Romney was nominated, maybe even since Mccain, that’s been relegated to libertarian potheads to ask for.
Dustin (cafb36) — 12/6/2019 @ 10:36 amImpeach the mfer
mg (974b94) — 12/6/2019 @ 10:44 amA shame there is no political party that actually supports this point of view anymore. Ever since Mitt Romney was nominated, maybe even since Mccain, that’s been relegated to libertarian potheads to ask for.
Yes. And I would extend that beyond Mittens and Mc. Yay, we agree. I’m so full of Christmas cheer I could just spit!
PTw (894877) — 12/6/2019 @ 10:51 amNice Jobs report. Good news is always welcome.
Time123 (ca85c9) — 12/6/2019 @ 11:50 amToo much winning.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/6/2019 @ 11:54 amImpeach him. 😉
I dunno about impeaching per se, but whose gonna catch the U-joint housing of a bus at 60 mph over this latest installment of Ranch?
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 12/6/2019 @ 11:57 amPresident Trump makes even more jobs when he does the new canadamexico
he’s really looking out for us and it’s a nice feeling
happyfeet (327e66) — 12/6/2019 @ 12:06 pmWhy should he bother, haps, – after he got 2-faced by Justine and AMLO not even hiding going fetal.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 12/6/2019 @ 12:12 pmhe rises above
that’s his nature
happyfeet (327e66) — 12/6/2019 @ 12:15 pm“I’m thinking pretty soon we’ll see something like:
Misleading Jobs Report – Explained”
Flash back to Republicans during the Obama administration.
Davethulhu (fab944) — 12/6/2019 @ 12:21 pmWhat really bothers me about our president, President Donald Trump, is how he failed to keep probably his biggest campaign promise that there would be so much winning we’ll get tired of it. I’m still not tired of it. He really is a liar. If you doubt me, you could look up what the dictionary defines as a lie. I’m pretty sure that is one.
PTw (894877) — 12/6/2019 @ 12:33 pm“ Flash back to Republicans during the Obama administration.“
You mean that clown who said manufacturing jobs just weren’t coming back?
“The 284,000 manufacturing jobs created in 2018 was the most the industry has added in a calendar year since 1997,” the government report read.”
harkin (337580) — 12/6/2019 @ 12:47 pmYes, but let’s not forget about the journalists that have been let go. Some have student loans to pay off. Some went to the finest schools. Nobody’s ever taught them how to live out on the street, and now they’re gonna have to get used to it. They not ones to compromise. But as they google new jobs they start to realize as they stare into the vacuum and let out sighs. All the job leads ask, “Do you want to learn to code?” Imagine how that feels.
PTw (894877) — 12/6/2019 @ 1:01 pm“You mean that clown who said manufacturing jobs just weren’t coming back?”
You’re moving goal posts. Republicans downplayed due to lower labor force participation (flat during the Trump administration) and lack of an annual 3% GDP gain (something Trump has also failed to achieve).
Davethulhu (fab944) — 12/6/2019 @ 1:55 pmWell everything’s OK Now. But just remember, we’re all dying in a TRUMP TRADE WAR, next year.
rcocean (1a839e) — 12/6/2019 @ 3:27 pm@9 I would put it further back than that. The government artificially props up a lot of industries, from oil to ag to aerospace, etc. with subsidies and contracts and price controls and other payments, and they have for a very long time.
Nic (bad3df) — 12/6/2019 @ 4:43 pm