Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

The US economy is stronger than we think: 257,000 net new jobs in January, but another 404,000 jobs were “found” (due to a recalculation) in November and December. More than 140 million are currently employed, a record high (see Chart below).

The unemployment rate is 5.7%, but if we include part-timers and discouraged, that percentage rises to 11.3%. Way too high, but making progress (see Chart below).

One of the details in the data is the number of people quitting their jobs: 9.5% of the unemployed quit their jobs, the highest percentage since 2008. This is a datum only a wonk (or a Fed Chair—Janet Yellen has singled out this number as particularly meaningful for her) could love, as it presumably shows a higher confidence among voluntary quitters that they will find another job.

There’s always lots of noise in the data, but the US economy, if not humming, is certainly chugging along.

• 17 Feb, 2015

  Patience

  Interest rate cycles are long: lasting not years, but decades. Consequently, we don't have many data points for ...

• 5 Dec, 2014

  Labor Market

  Oh, this was a strong report this morning, on every level:321,000 net new jobs in November.10 consecutive months of ...

• 10 Aug, 2023

  Beach Reading

  There's still a lot of summer left, so I have five nonfiction and five fiction recommendations for your beach ...