The U.S. economy added 146,000 jobs in November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning. That was up slightly from the 138,000 jobs added in October. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast the addition of just 90,000 jobs in November. But it’s hard to tell what the numbers mean because of the effects of Hurricane Sandy
The headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.1% in October. The core CPI, which excludes energy and food costs, rose by 0.2% in October. For the last 12 months, the headline CPI is up 2.2% and the core CPI is up 2%. The continued very subdued rate of inflation removes any pressure on the Federal Reserve to change its current policy of low interest rates and quantitative easing.
In October the economy added 171,000 net jobs. That was up from a revised 148,000 in September. (The September figure was initially reported as 114,000.) The consensus among economists surveyed by Briefing.com called for an increase of 125,000 in September.
The big economic news for the week comes tomorrow when investors get the September jobs numbers. The consensus forecast among economists surveyed by Briefing.com calls for the U.S. economy to have added 120,000 jobs in September.
U.S. job growth for August was a disappointing 96,000. That’s below both the consensus of 130,000 jobs among economists surveyed by Briefing.com and the revised numbers for July showing growth of 141,000 jobs. The private sector added 103,000 jobs in August, down from 162,000 in July
Initial claims for unemployment are down and the “shadow inventory” of U.S. homes has dropped for the first time in three years–if anybody cares (and this morning no one does.)
Today’s report on initial claims for unemployment continued a string of disappointingly weak results pointing to a slowdown in the jobs market. Initial claims for the week that ended on June 9 rose to 386,000 from an upwardly revised 380,00 for the week that ended on June 2. Economists had projected that initial claims would fall to 375,000
The economy created a paltry 69,000 net jobs in May, confirming suspicions that job creation has slowed since the end of 2011. Many observers, including yours truly, think that the June 19-20 meeting of the Federal Reserve, marks the last good chance for the Fed to move on a new program of quantitative easing. Anything later than that runs too close to the election
It doesn’t look—when you include upward revisions to February and March—like job growth is falling off a cliff. However, it sure does look like the rate of job creation is slowing.
Even though the number of workers filing new claims for unemployment dropped more than expected in the week ended April 28, the trend seems to point to a slowdown in hiring gains that will show up in tomorrow’s jobs numbers.
