MSNBC: Jobless Rate Drops to Lowest Level in Almost Three Years

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Payroll employment rises 243,000 in January; unemployment rate decreases to 8.3%

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Link: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- JANUARY 2012


Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 243,000 in January, and the
unemployment rate decreased to 8.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. Job growth was widespread in the private
sector, with large employment gains in professional and business
services, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing. Government
employment changed little over the month.

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| Changes to The Employment Situation Data
|
|Establishment survey data have been revised as a result of the
|annual benchmarking process and the updating of seasonal
|adjustment factors. Also, household survey data for January 2012
|reflect updated population estimates. See the notes at the end of
|the news release for more information about these changes.
|
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Household Survey Data

The unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point in January to
8.3 percent; the rate has fallen by 0.8 point since August. (See table
A-1.) The number of unemployed persons declined to 12.8 million in
January. (See the note and tables B and C for information about annual
population adjustments to the household survey estimates.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men
(7.7 percent) and blacks (13.6 percent) declined in January. The
unemployment rates for adult women (7.7 percent), teenagers (23.2
percent), whites (7.4 percent), and Hispanics (10.5 percent) were
little changed. The jobless rate for Asians was 6.7 percent, not
seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

In January, the number of job losers and persons who completed
temporary jobs fell to 7.3 million. The number of long-term unemployed
(those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 5.5 million
and accounted for 42.9 percent of the unemployed. (See tables A-11 and
A-12.)

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Monthly Employment Reports

The large print giveth, and the fine print taketh away.

A DU'er pointed out several months ago that, if I'm going to post the link to the press release, I should include the link to all the tables that provide additional ways of examining the data. Specifically, I should post a link to "Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization." Table A-15 includes those who are not considered unemployed, on the grounds that they have become discouraged about the prospects of finding a job and have given up looking. Here are those links.

Employment Situation

Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization

From the February 10, 2011, "DOL Newsletter":

Take Three

Secretary Solis answers three questions about how the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates unemployment rates.

How does BLS determine the unemployment rate and the number of jobs that were added each month?

BLS uses two different surveys to get these numbers. The "household survey," or http://www.bls.gov/cps/, "Current Population Survey (CPS)," involves asking people, from about 60,000 households, a series of questions to assess each person in the household's activities including work and searching for work. Their responses give us the unemployment rate. The "establishment survey," or http://www.bls.gov/ces/, "Current Employment Statistics (CES)," surveys 140,000 employers about how many people they have on their payrolls. These results determine the number of jobs being added or lost.

== == ==

http://www.bls.gov/bls/newsrels.htm#OEUS
Monthly Employment Reports

The large print giveth, and the fine print taketh away.

A DU'er pointed out several months ago that, if I'm going to post the link to the press release, I should include the link to all the tables that provide additional ways of examining the data. Specifically, I should post a link to "Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization." Table A-15 includes those who are not considered unemployed, on the grounds that they have become discouraged about the prospects of finding a job and have given up looking. Here are those links.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm
Employment Situation

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm
Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization

From the February 10, 2011, "DOL Newsletter":

Take Three

Secretary Solis answers three questions about how the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates unemployment rates.

How does BLS determine the unemployment rate and the number of jobs that were added each month?

BLS uses two different surveys to get these numbers. The "household survey," or Current Population Survey (CPS), involves asking people, from about 60,000 households, a series of questions to assess each person in the household's activities including work and searching for work. Their responses give us the unemployment rate. The "establishment survey," or Current Employment Statistics (CES), surveys 140,000 employers about how many people they have on their payrolls. These results determine the number of jobs being added or lost.