employment Archives

An estimated 166,000 Americans filed initial unemployment claims last week, down nearly 5,000 claims from the previous week and better than analyst projections of 200,000. It is the lowest figure since November 1968 (and the second-lowest since weekly reporting began in January 1967). Continuing claims rose slightly by 17,000 to 1.52 million, coming two years after the number of claims reached an all-time high of 6.1 million in April 2020.

The decline shows employers are limiting layoffs in a tight labor market. Roughly 1.8 job openings are available for every unemployed worker; the unemployment rate stood at 3.6% in March, just above the prepandemic level of 3.5%. Nearly 4.4 million workers left their jobs in February, a number that has held steady as employers try to fill job openings.

The figure represents the third consecutive week that new claims fell below 200,000.

Private-Sector Employment Surged in February

March 2, 2022 Buck Banks

475,000

“U.S. private employers hired more workers than expected in February and data for the prior month was revised sharply higher to show strong job gains instead of losses, aligning with other reports that have painted an upbeat picture of the labor market,” Reuters reports.

4.3 Million Quit or Changed Jobs in December

February 1, 2022 Buck Banks

4.3 million

“Some 4.3 million people quit or changed jobs in December — down from last month’s all-time high but still near record levels, as the labor market remained unsettled and the omicron variant swept through the United States,” the Washington Post reports.

Quitters Quitting All Over the Place

August 11, 2021August 11, 2021 Buck Banks

69.3%

Quits as a percentage of total separations — which includes layoffs, firings and retirements — reached 69.3% in June. This measure, also known as the “take this job and shove it” indicator is at an all-time high, Axios reports.

273,000 Jobs Were Added in February

March 6, 2020 Buck Banks

273,000

“Employers added 273,000 jobs in February and the jobless rate was 3.5%, signs of labor-market strength before the novel coronavirus spread widely in the U.S.,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Employment Numbers Look Good

May 3, 2019 Buck Banks

2363,000

New York Times: “Employers added 263,000 jobs last month, underscoring the economy’s resilience after some analysts had feared earlier in the year that a slowdown was coming. … The unemployment rate was 3.6 percent, the lowest level of the 10-year recovery, down from 3.8 percent in March.”

May Job Numbers Disappoint

June 2, 2017 Buck Banks

138,000

The U.S. economy added 138,000 jobs in May, the New York Times reports. Economists had expected a gain of about 185,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent, the lowest since 2001.

311,000

“U.S. hiring grew solidly but cooled some in February as employers added 311,000 jobs, while unemployment rose to 3.6%,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

$11.4 billion

517,000

475,000

“U.S. private employers hired more workers than expected in February and data for the prior month was revised sharply higher to show strong job gains instead of losses, aligning with other reports that have painted an upbeat picture of the labor market,” Reuters reports.

4.3 million

“Some 4.3 million people quit or changed jobs in December — down from last month’s all-time high but still near record levels, as the labor market remained unsettled and the omicron variant swept through the United States,” the Washington Post reports.

69.3%

Quits as a percentage of total separations — which includes layoffs, firings and retirements — reached 69.3% in June. This measure, also known as the “take this job and shove it” indicator is at an all-time high, Axios reports.

273,000

“Employers added 273,000 jobs in February and the jobless rate was 3.5%, signs of labor-market strength before the novel coronavirus spread widely in the U.S.,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

2363,000

New York Times: “Employers added 263,000 jobs last month, underscoring the economy’s resilience after some analysts had feared earlier in the year that a slowdown was coming. … The unemployment rate was 3.6 percent, the lowest level of the 10-year recovery, down from 3.8 percent in March.”

138,000

The U.S. economy added 138,000 jobs in May, the New York Times reports. Economists had expected a gain of about 185,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent, the lowest since 2001.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“It does make the conversation of the primary all about Trump, which is a good dynamic he had going for him in 2016, everyone being asked to react to Trump. We’re right now fighting a primary so all that matters is the party, and we can deal with the general after….”

— A GOP operative, quoted by the Washington Post, on the impact of Donald Trump being indicted.

— Gov. Ron DeSantis, when asked about Donald Trump’s “Ron DeSantimonius” nickname for him.

“I’m emancipated now.” — Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), quoted by the Los Angeles Times, on her life as a backbencher.

— Alexander Burns

— Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, distancing himself from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ apparent flip-flop on the war in Ukraine, on the Hugh Hewitt radio show.

Numerati

$20

Politico: “After inflation rocketed upward last year, those pushing for higher minimum wages see a new opening to gain ground on raising worker pay.”

3,500

$3,300

“Donald Trump asked his followers to sign a petition denouncing his potential arrest in New York,” Insider reports. “But signing this petition leads people straight to a page where they’re asked to give $3,300 or other suggested amounts of cash to his 2024 campaign.”

1.5

21

Twenty-one members of the South Carolina State House are considering a bill that would make a woman who has an abortion in the state eligible for the death penalty, Rolling Stone reports.