The week after the release of the Monthly Employment Situation Report is a fairly slow week for Economic Data. The Job Opening and Labor Turnover survey (JOLTS) report for the prior month is released after the Jobs Report for the current month. This week we also saw the release of the Treasury Report for the Month of March. Neither of those reports were too interesting. The JOLTS report showed that we have a record level of Job Openings - unfortunately the report does not indicate if the jobs are permanent or temporary. It also does not report whether or not they are full-time or part-time jobs. The Treasury Report revealed that we were spending more money than we received in revenue - also not groundbreaking news. We are still under $20 trillion in debt. What this means to you is that his column spends more time on the Jobs data - not the Jobs Report.
(April 10) The jobs report revealed that we added jobs, over a million non-seasonally adjusted jobs, saw a drop in unemployment, and an increase in employment. We also saw a surge in the levels, plural, or people working multiple jobs.The are over 8 million people working multiple jobs, right now, and over 2.1 million people working two part-time jobs. Both are records for the month of March.
(April 11) There have been numerous discussions of which sectors are growing. There are eleven sectors that the Current Employment Statistics data measures. Ten Sectors Added Workers Last Month. The problem we have is that three sectors have fewer workers than they had during March 2009 - during the recession. Five sectors have fewer workers than they had during July 2007 - the peak of the pre-recession jobs market.
(April 12) There have been discussions about women and equal pay. Equal Pay Day was April 4. The Jobs Report was released April 7. The column "Men STILL Recovering from the Recession." This article details how men are working more full-time jobs than women. Women are working more part-time jobs than men. Men are working more part-time jobs, and fewer full-time jobs, than they were during July 2007. Women are working more full-time jobs and more part-time jobs than July 2007. Men are still recovering - almost 10 years later.
(April 13) The weekly unemployment claims report was released. Some people were surprised ha the number of claims fell, seasonally adjusted. Reality, the non-seasonally adjusted claims level, increased for the first-time claims and decreased for the continuing claims. This is normal for this time of year. the "Maundy Thursday Unemployment Claims Report" details the changes. We have a seventeen year low in first-time claims because we have added 2 million jobs during the past two months. This has gone unreported elsewhere because these are the non-seasonally adjusted Current Population Survey data. The rest of "the world" reports the seasonally adjusted Current Employment Statistic data. We also have elevated levels of people working two jobs. When people working two jobs find one that pays better, someone, or multiple people, may pick up those jobs. When people working multiple jobs lose one they are not unemployed, they still have another job. They are not unemployed. They are lesser employed. There is no lesser employed insurance program.
Friday was Good Friday. There was no column. It was not a day for writing regarding economic data. It was a day for reading, reflection, and prayer, in Church. Enjoy your Saturday - Holy Saturday. Tomorrow is Easter, not Reester.
It's the economy.