by dakine01
The Economy Stays Muddled
11:30 am in Economy, Government, Jobs, Media, Unemployment by dakine01
OPINION: You Can Put Lipstick On The Economy, But It's Still A Pig by AMERICAN ARTIST BEN MURPHY, on Flick
I’ve been a bit distracted this past week or so, what with moving into a new place and getting things settled in, but it sure does look like things are going on pretty much as they have been with the economy. Of course, the Economists are surprised at the figures being reported. Economists are always surprised by the figures reported.
First up is the private sector jobs report from payroll processor ADP that came out Wednesday, May 4. Via the NY Times:
Private employers in the United States added 179,000 jobs in April, while the pace of growth in the services sector unexpectedly eased in April to its lowest level since August 2010, according to economic reports released on Wednesday.
In the jobs report, the ADP Employer Services report fell short of economists’ expectations for a gain of 198,000, according to a Reuters survey. March private payrolls were revised up to an increase of 207,000 from a previously reported 201,000.
Then the economists were really surprised when the Initial Unemployment Claims report for last week that came out yesterday showed another big job in claims. Via Reuters:
While the surprise jump in initial claims for unemployment benefits was blamed on factors ranging from spring break layoffs to the introduction of an emergency benefits program, economists said it corroborated reports this week indicating a loss of momentum in job creation.
New claims for state jobless benefits rose 43,000 to 474,000, the highest since mid-August, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists had expected claims to fall.
…snip…
“We do not think that the entire rise in claims over the last month can be explained by special factors alone,” said Harm Bandholz, chief U.S. economist at UniCredit Research in New York. “It seems instead as if the improvement in the labor market slowed a bit.”
The data, a day before the U.S. government’s comprehensive employment report for April, was the latest to suggest a softening in the jobs market.
Doncha just love the phrase “…softening in the jobs market”? As if the jobs market for the last few years hasn’t already been closely resembling a marshmallow in strength.
Read the rest of this entry →
