http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6414103/ WASHINGTON - Employers aggressively hired new workers in October, adding 337,000 people to their payrolls after a sluggish summer, but the unemployment rate rose fractionally to 5.5 percent. The pace of hiring was the fastest in six months, nearly double what economists had forecast, the Labor Department reported Friday, saying cleanup efforts from hurricanes that struck Florida and much of the Southeast helped jump-start the labor market. But the overall, seasonally adjusted jobless rate actually rose by 0.1 percentage point from the 5.4 percent rate of September because more people renewed their job searches, expanding the pool of available workers. The jobs report was good news for President Bush as he prepares for a second term. A generally weak job market plagued his re-election campaign, offering a political target to his Democratic challenger, John Kerry. Economists had expected October payrolls to grow by about 175,000 with the jobless rate holding steady at 5.4 percent. Employers have added about 2.2 million jobs since August 2003. Hiring in construction helped spur last month’s job growth, with employment in that sector rising by a net 71,000 jobs. “Some of this unusually large gain reflected rebuilding and cleanup activity in the Southeast following the four hurricanes that struck the U.S. in August and September,” said Kathleen Utgoff, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the past year, construction employment has grown by about 16,000 per month. New jobs in professional and business services also helped strengthen overall job growth last month, with hiring expanding by 97,000. Temporary employment services were responsible for about half of that, giving ammunition to Bush critics who argue that much of the recent job growth is occurring in lower-paying work that typically doesn’t offer heath insurance and other benefits. October’s job growth was the highest since March, when employers added 353,000 positions. Since that time, the pace had slowed, especially in June and July. But hiring has picked up since, growing by a revised 198,000 in August and 139,000 in September. Both figures were higher than originally reported by the Labor Department. Manufacturing was the only major sector to lose jobs last month, with employment falling by a net 5,000. That followed a decline of 14,000 in September. Some of the report showed a jobs market still struggling. The number of people who held more than one job rose by 519,000 to 8 million. The average time for the unemployed to find a job was 19.6 weeks, the same as in September. GUIDE Key economic indicators Click an indicator name to learn more Period Latest Prev. • Consumer Confidence Oct.* 92.9 96.7 • Retail sales Sept.* 1.5% -0.2% • GDP Q3* 3.7% 3.3% • ISM Index Oct.* 56.8 58.5 • Factory Orders Sept.* -0.4% -0.3% • Unemployment Rate Sept. 5.4% 5.4% • Employment situation Sept.* 96,000 128,000 • Consumer inflation Sept. 2.0% 1.7% • Housing starts Sept.* 1,898,000 2,020,000 • Home sales Sept.* 7,956,000 7,715,000 back to list | next CONSUMER CONFIDENCE Recent figures Oct.* 92.9 Sept.* 96.7 Aug. 98.7 July 105.7 June 102.8 May 93.1 April 93.0 March 88.5 Feb. 88.5 Jan. 04 97.7 Dec. 94.8 Nov. 92.5 What is it? Consumer confidence is considered important because consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. The monthly Conference Board survey is one of the two most closely watched indicators of sentiment. Based on a mail-in survey sent to about 5,000 households. Results are converted to an index and expressed in comparison to the 1985 average of 100. Source: The Conference Board back to list | next RETAIL SALES Recent figures Sept.* 1.5% Aug. -0.2% July 1.0% June -0.7% May 1.4% April -0.8% March 2.1% Feb. 1.0% Jan. 04 0.5% Dec. 0.2% Nov. 1.2% Oct. 0.2% What is it? A broad measure of consumer spending trends. Includes sales of motor vehicles, clothing, food at both grocery stores and restaurants, electronics, building materials drugs and other items. Expressed as a percent change from previous month, adjusted for seasonal variations but not price changes. Source: Census Bureau back to list | next GDP Recent figures Q3* 3.7% Q2 3.3% Q1 4.5% Q4 4.2% Q3 7.4% Q2 4.1% Q1 2003 1.9% Q4 0.7% Q3 2.6% Q2 2.4% Q1 2002 3.4% Q4 1.6% What is it? The gross domestic product is the broadest measure of the economy, comprising the value of all goods and services produced in the United States. It is reported quarterly with frequent revisions. Generally expressed as a percentage change from the previous quarter in "real" or inflation-adjusted terms. Economists presume real GDP is capable of growing at an annual rate of about 3.5 percent over the long term. When GDP declines over a sustained period of time the economy is considered to be in recession. Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis. back to list | next ISM INDEX Recent figures Oct.* 56.8 Sept. 58.5 Aug. 59.0 July 62.0 June 61.1 May 62.8 April 62.4 March 62.5 Feb. 61.4 Jan. 04 63.6 Dec. 63.4 Nov. 61.3 What is it? The first major indicator reported each month, considered a reliable assessment of how the manufacturing sector is performing. Based on a survey of executives done by the Institute for Supply Management, formerly known as the National Association of Purchasing Management. Responses are compiled and reported as an index number. A reading above 50 percent indicates the manufacturing sector is expanding, while a reading below 50 indicates it is shrinking. Source: Institute for Supply Management back to list | next FACTORY ORDERS Recent figures Sept.* -0.4% Aug. -0.3% July 1.7% June 1.2% May 0.4% April -1.1% March 5.0% Feb. 1.1% Jan. 04 -0.9% Dec. 1.8% Nov. -0.9% Oct. 2.4% What is it? Data on new orders for manufactured goods, adjusted for seasonal variation, offer a good indicator of the manufacturing sector's health, closely watched because it is the most volatile part of the economy. Expressed as percent change from previous month. Source: Census Bureau. back to list | next UNEMPLOYMENT RATE Recent figures Sept. 5.4% Aug. 5.4% July 5.5% June 5.6% May 5.6% April 5.6% March 5.7% Feb. 5.6% Jan. 04 5.6% Dec. 5.7% Nov. 5.9% Oct. 6.0% What is it? One of the best known and most politically powerful economic indicators, the rate is calculated from a monthly survey among a sample of about 60,000 households. The rate is adjusted for seasonal variations, but unlike most economic statistics it is never revised. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. back to list | next EMPLOYMENT SITUATION Recent figures Sept.* 96,000 Aug. 128,000 July 85,000 June 96,000 May 208,000 April 324,000 March 353,000 Feb. 83,000 Jan. 04 159,000 Dec. 8,000 Nov. 83,000 Oct. 88,000 What is it? Represents the month-to-month change in jobs on payrolls of the nation's business, government and non-profit establishments. Generally considered a more accurate indicator of labor market health than the unemployment rate. Analysts estimate the economy should add about 150,000 jobs monthly to keep up with the nation's growing work force. Based on a sample of 300,000 establishments employing nearly a third of the nation's workers, the figure is adjusted for seasonal variations and frequently revised. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. back to list | next CONSUMER INFLATION Recent figures Sept. 2.0% Aug. 1.7% July 1.8% June 1.9% May 1.7% April 1.8% March 1.6% Feb. 1.2% Jan. 04 1.1% Dec. 1.1% Nov. 1.1% Oct. 1.3% What is it? The most widely known and used measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index is based on the price of a "basket"of goods including food, beverages, fuel, medical care and clothing. Value refers to year-over-year change in "core" prices, excluding volatile food and energy categories. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. back to list | next HOUSING STARTS (seasonally adjusted annual rate) Recent figures Sept.* 1,898,000 Aug. 2,020,000 July 1,985,000 June 1,817,000 May 1,979,000 April 1,963,000 March 2,000,000 Feb. 1,895,000 Jan. 04 1,934,000 Dec. 2,067,000 Nov. 2,054,000 Oct. 1,983,000 What is it? A good indicator to assess demand for housing and construction industry health. Represents the number of new residential buildings, including single-family and multifamily homes, where construction was started. Expressed as a seasonally adjusted annual rate. Construction was started on 1.89 million new residential structures in 2003, the highest level since 1972. Source: Census Bureau. back to list | next HOME SALES (seasonally adjusted annual rate) Recent figures Sept.* 7,956,000 Aug. 7,715,000 July 7,821,000 June 8,118,000 May 8,054,000 April 7,806,000 March 7,750,000 Feb. 7,295,000 Jan. 04 7,155,000 Dec. 7,490,000 Nov. 7,216,000 Oct. 7,491,000 What is it? One of the bright spots of the economy in recent years, driven in part by historically low mortgage rates. Figure represents the sum of new and existing single-family home sales, expressed as a seasonally adjusted annual rate. Sources: National Association of Realtors, Census Bureau * preliminary figures • Print this The jobless rate for blacks jumped to 10.7 percent last month, up from 10.3 percent in September. The rate for Hispanics fell to 6.7 percent from 7.1 percent from the previous month, while the rate for teenagers grew to 17.2 percent from 16.6 percent. The rate for whites held at 4.7 percent. But the economy is back on track, growing at a 3.7 percent annual rate in the third quarter, up from a 3.3 percent pace in the prior period. Analysts think Federal Reserve policy-makers will continue to move rates from extraordinarily low levels to more normal levels to make sure inflation doesn’t become a threat to the economy down the road. The Fed is expected to boost short-term interest rates for a fourth time this year when it meets next week, pushing up a key rate from 1.75 percent to 2 percent. © 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
This seems like mostly good news. The rise in umemployment isn't good, but the rest of it is definitely a positive.
Great news. On another note, my 401k has been blowing up during the last week. Gotta love that S&P 500 fund.
psst...the election's over...you don't need to try to find the slightest negatives to make Bush look bad anymore. It's ok, you can be happy with good news.
Why do democrats always try to belittle job growth? I dont remember media analyzing what type and where the jobs were coming from when much of the growth was due to dot com busts, energy trading scandals, and corperate fraud.
Yup, 71K of the jobs were in construction. Even if you made the assumption that ALL of that was due to the hurricanes (unlikey), after you adjust that total amount out, 266K jobs were added last month, or 52% more than expected. You know, it's one thing to complain when it's justified. It's another when people just complain to complain.
Hey, if one of you guys is going to try to put a positive spin on everything, it's my duty as the loyal opposition to point out the other side of the story. Don't expect me to shut up just because you don't like hearing differing opinions. Putting on rose colored glasses like Bush doesn't make things better. If not for the hurricane cleanup, unemployment would have gone up instead of staying *static* with population growth. Talk to me about the stock market when we get back to where we were five years ago.
Who is putting a positive spin on it? I thought job creation was a good thing. "The pace of hiring was the fastest in six months, nearly double what economists had forecast." What are you opposing here? You are opposing good news for the economy? Opposing unemployed americans getting their jobs back? Fill me in on what exactly you "oppose." Where are you getting this data from? Ah, yes, please return us to the late 90's where energy companies were frauduently printing their own money, a time when corperate scandals were rampant, and when tech stocks were all but stealing money from investors. Yes, lets go back to those days when the market was "booming".
If you read the thread, someone was bragging about the current S&P and a couple of guys are acting like the Depression is over. We're still about a million jobs minus under Bush. If you guys don't remember your history, the Bushies now count service industries like Starbucks and oil giants like XOM as manufacturing for tax purposes. Read the original report. That's where I got the numbers *from*. http://bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm . . . Unemployment (Household Survey Data) Both the number of unemployed persons, 8.1 million, and the unemployment rate, 5.5 percent, were essentially unchanged from September to October. The jobless rate has held fairly steady thus far this year and remains below its most recent high of 6.3 percent in June 2003. . . .
because when you add the number of unemployed to the number thats 'not looking anymore'....the picture isn't as picturesque.
