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76,572
Number of people employed in the coal industry in 2014, the latest year for which data is available, reports the Washington Post. “Although 76,000 might seem like a large number, consider that similar numbers of people are employed by, say, the bowling (69,088) and skiing (75,036) industries… Looking at the level of individual businesses, the coal industry in 2014 (76,572) employed about as many as Whole Foods (72,650), and fewer workers than Arby’s (close to 80,000), Dollar General (105,000) or J.C. Penney (114,000). The country’s largest private employer, Walmart (2.2 million employees) provides roughly 28 times as many jobs as coal.”
227,000
“U.S. employers hired briskly in January and more Americans joined the workforce, suggesting the labor market still has room to grow after years of expansion. Jobs outside of farms increased a seasonally adjusted 227,000 last month, the best gain since September,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Meanwhile, an increase in the share of Americans working or actively seeking work caused the unemployment rate to rise to 4.8% from 4.7% a month earlier. Economists predicted a gain of 174,000 jobs and a 4.7% jobless rate. The report also offered signs the labor market may not be as tight as thought.”
178,000
That’s the consensus estimate for nonfarm payroll additions in December, putting the economy on a path to stronger growth and further interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve this year, Reuters reports.
4.6%
“U.S. employers hired at a steady clip in November while the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level in nine years, signs of enduring labor-market growth that will likely leave Federal Reserve officials on track to raise interest rates later this month,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Nonfarm payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 178,000 in November from the prior month, the Labor Department said. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.6% from 4.9% in October as some people found jobs while others dropped out of the workforce. At 4.6%, the rate is the lowest since August 2007. Economists expected 180,000 new jobs and a jobless rate of 4.9% in November.”
246,000
Number of jobless claims filed in the period ending Oct. 8. The four-week average for unemployment benefit filings is the lowest since 1973, reports Bloomberg.
200,000
Number of construction jobs that are currently unfilled across the United States, Reuters reports. Eight years after the housing bust drove an estimated 30 percent of construction workers into new fields, homebuilders across the country are struggling to find workers at all levels of experience, according to the National Association of Homebuilders. The association estimates that there are approximately 200,000 unfilled construction jobs in the U.S. – a jump of 81 percent in the last two years.
211,000
Number of jobs the American economy created in November, the government reported Friday, “a robust showing that all but guarantees policy makers at the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade when they meet this month,” the New York Times reports. “The unemployment rate held steady at 5 percent, unchanged from October.”
1,100
Number of temporary visas for foreign workers Donald Trump’s companies have sought since 2000, despite the fact that Trump is staking his run for president in part on a vow to protect American jobs, Reuters reports.
5.3%
The unemployment rate for June — the lowest in seven years, as the U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs last month, Bloomberg reports.
233,000
Number of jobs added in the U.S. last month as unemployment rate dipped to 5.4%, a seven-year low, according to Wonk Wire.
