Jobs reports + 158,000

The October jobs report, set for Friday release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics may be the most anticipated significant event remaining in the 2012 presidential campaign. ADP's private sector payroll report released today notes the private sector added 158,000 jobs during the month. Over half of the jobs creation was by large businesses having more than 1000 employees. The BLS report, which will include information on public and private sector jobs, has during the great recession, reflected a bit smaller jobs growth due to the inclusion of the public sector information. Interesting also it appears ADP has changed its methodology in advance of this latest report. That fact is certain to inspire partisan wrangling over the report's results.

College and economic security

The Georgetown Public Policy Institute for has released a report detailing how much better off college graduates fared in the economic downturn. Key points

• unemployment rate for 4 year college graduates never exceeded 6.3% during the recession, compared with a peak unemployment rate of 13.4% in February 2010.
• unemployment rate for new high school graduates peaked at 30% in January 2010, and remained at 24% in May of 2012.
• during the recession (Dec. 2007-Jan 2010) there was modest job growth (187,000) for those with a bachelor's degree or better.
• During the recovery (January 2010-Feb. 2012) job losses for high school graduates or less education continued to decline (230,000) while job growth for those with some college (2,012,000) and Bachelor's degree or better (3,374,000) improved dramatically.
• Nearly 4 out of every 5 jobs lost in the recession were held by workers with a high school diploma or less.

There is a wealth of additional information.

Whose been in office when the jobs grew?

Bloomberg reports a "who knew" moment. Since 1960, private sector job growth when Democrats resided in the White House almost doubles the growth occurring when Republicans resided there. This despite the republicans holding the presidency 5 years longer than Democrats. The average number of jobs created during a Democrat's residency is 150,000, compared to 71,000 for Republicans.

Local economy shows strong growth

Data released Friday by the Louisiana Workforce Commission confirmed anecdotal evidence that the New Orleans area economy is growing. The seven parish metro area added 8,800 jobs since February 2012. The unemployment rate also dropped from 7.4% in January to 7.0%. The state as a whole added 41,000 jobs in the last twelve months.

Louisiana job growth

Good news on state and local unemployment and job creation. The Bureau of Labor statistics (BLS) reported that the state's seasonally adjusted jobless rate dropped to 6.8% in December. Thats down from 7.7% in December 2010. The Louisiana Workforce Commission announced December marked the 15th consecutive month the state added private sector jobs. Statewide job growth in 2011 was 48,300.

National Economy grows to tread water state

In a mild surprise third quarter growth in the U.S. GDP reached 2.5%, almost doubling second quarter growth, according to the Commerce Department. In Louisiana job growth continues with the New Orleans area adding almost 11,000 jobs between September 2010 and September 2011. The metro area unemployment rate in September was 6.9%.

Slim job growth in September

Private sector employers added a meager 137,000 jobs in September, while the public sector continues to shed jobs according to the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent while the underemployment rate inched up to 16.5% (from 16.2%). Both the July and AUgust estimates were revised upward, but only slightly.

BLS April employment report

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released its April employment report. Private sector job creation equaled the revised total figure for March (230,000). The public sector total was 66, 000 spurred in part by the addition of temporary census jobs. The 290,000+ number is the best since March of 2006. The revision of February figures from -14,00 to +39,000 makes march the 4th straight month of job gains and the 5th out of the last 6. Despite this, unemployment rose to 9.9% (from 9.7) for the first three months of the year. The growth in unemployment is attributable to reentrants to the workforce.

Jobs created in March

Although the unemployment rate remained at 9.7%, the economy gained 162,000 jobs.

A decade of dispair

Each new year like each new baseball season begins with hope. May 2010 and the remainder of the decade that follows help us put aside the harsh memories of the last decade.  The Washington Post has a piece on the "aughts" which illustrates the utter lack of job growth during the past decade.

"There has been zero net job creation since December 1999. No previous decade going back to the 1940s had job growth of less than 20 percent. Economic output rose at its slowest rate of any decade since the 1930s as well.

And the net worth of American households -- the value of their houses, retirement funds and other assets minus debts -- has also declined when adjusted for inflation, compared with sharp gains in every previous decade since data were initially collected in the 1950s."

We are a little better off in Louisiana. It appears we may be a little ahead of the nation's recovery.  Nevertheless, many here and throughout the country would be hard pressed to say they are better off now than they were in 2000. And those that do likely fall in the Wall Street camp, rather than the Main Street camp.