Stitch,
Sorry, this does not paste well, but as you can see unemployment and the unemployment rate has been climbing for the past four months. This even as the particpation rate has declined. Essentially, although the great US job machine has not come to a halt, its just not producing jobs as fast as the labor force grows.
At the moment, the change in trend could go either way. I thik the greater pressure, however, is on the side of slower job growth in the near future. Recent new jobless claims, however, refute this theory.
Aug. July Aug. Aug. Apr. May June July Aug.
1997 1998 1998 1997 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998
TOTAL
Civilian noninstitutional population............ 203,364 205,270 205,479 203,364 204,731 204,899 205,085 205,270 205,479
Civilian labor force.......................... 137,460 139,336 138,379 136,404 137,242 137,364 137,447 137,296 137,415
Participation rate...................... 67.6 67.9 67.3 67.1 67.0 67.0 67.0 66.9 66.9
Employed.................................... 130,865 132,769 132,206 129,747 131,383 131,453 131,209 131,067 131,168
Employment-population ratio............. 64.4 64.7 64.3 63.8 64.2 64.2 64.0 63.9 63.8
Agriculture............................... 3,661 3,866 3,818 3,379 3,350 3,335 3,343 3,441 3,529
Nonagricultural industries................ 127,205 128,903 128,388 126,368 128,033 128,118 127,867 127,626 127,640
Unemployed.................................. 6,594 6,567 6,173 6,657 5,859 5,910 6,237 6,230 6,247
Unemployment rate....................... 4.8 4.7 4.5 4.9 4.3 4.3 4.5 4.5 4.5
Not in labor force............................ 65,904 65,934 67,100 66,960 67,489 67,535 67,639 67,973 68,064
Cheers,
Lee |
