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Employers added 288,000 jobs in April as milder weather continued to lift the labor market from a winter slump.
That's the most in more than two years.
The unemployment rate fell to 6.3% from 6.7% -- the lowest since September 2008, the Labor Department said Friday.
Somehow this is bad news. Just wait for a republican to enlighten us on as to why that is.
The standard spin is that percentage falls partly (or mostly) due to people dropping out of the job pool (due to retirement, or long term unemployment), but it does not erase the positive fact about the 288K added.
The standard spin is that percentage falls partly (or mostly) due to people dropping out of the job pool (due to retirement, or long term unemployment), but it does not erase the positive fact about the 288K added.
That's not spin. It's very valid.
The 288K is good news; the drop in UE would not be so significant with only 288K jobs added (though the numbers are derived from separate surveys).
OP, I should let you know there are problems with your link.
The standard spin is that percentage falls partly (or mostly) due to people dropping out of the job pool (due to retirement, or long term unemployment), but it does not erase the positive fact about the 288K added.
The drop in participation rate is somewhat surprising. The numbers come from different surveys though. In addition to the 288K, the previous two months were revised upward. There is little doubt the labor market and overall economy is improving quite nicely and will continue to accelerate over the summer, barring some unforeseen global event.
The CNN report I read just now noted that it will still take a while to get down to the '4 to 5 percent' unemployment rate that we had prior to the recession.
However, I rather bet that 6 percent will become the new norm. As detailed in many financial articles over the past six years, many corporations took 'advantage' of the recession to get rid of superfluous jobs (including work that could now be done by computers, jobs shipped overseas, etc). Many government agencies (mine included) are now able to get the work done with fewer people. The backbone of middle class jobs, manufacturing, is still dwindling (I recall when steel mills employed several hundreds of thousands of people). Of course, on the plus side, we Baby Boomers are getting old, and there will be a steady and increasing demand for health care workers.
Anyway, I shall now step aside so we can have the usual explanations (as alluded to by Winter) as to why a falling unemployment rate actually means the number of people unemployed is skyrocketing.
Great news!! No need for unemployment handouts anymore -- and since Obama has created so many great jobs, it's time to cut the food stamps and other government handouts. Give us taxpayers a long needed break!
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Unemployment Drops to 6.3% - Jobs report blows past forecasts !!!
