US adds 156,000 jobs, unemployment rate climbs to 4.7%

Yahoo Finance ^ | 01/07/2017 | Sam Ro

[SeekAndFind]

The US labor market continues to hum.

US companies added 156,000 nonfarm payrolls in December, which was a bit lighter than the 175,000 expected. On the plus side, November’s payrolls number was revised up by 19,000 to 204,000.

December marked the 75th straight month of job growth in the US.

As expected, the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.7% from 4.6% in November. This came as the labor force participation rate climbed to 62.7% from 62.6% a month ago.

Importantly, wages are heating up. Average hourly earnings grew 0.4% month-over-month, which was better than the 0.3% expected. It was also a significant improvement from the 0.1% decline in November.

On a year-over-year basis, average hourly earnings climbed by 2.9%, which is the fastest pace of growth since June 2009.

Below is a look at jobs added by industry.

[SeekAndFind]

[Opinionated Blowhard]

I wonder if Sam wore an Obama cheerleader outfit while writing this column.

[cba123]

Far more than 95,000,000 Americans are no longer looking for work.

A brand new record. Up hugely a month ago.

That 4.7% is very, very bogus.

[SeekAndFind]

Where The December Jobs Were: Nurses, Waiters, And Waste Cleaners

[SeekAndFind]

According to the BLS at least, some 155,000 seasonally adjusted jobs were added in December, arbitrarily goalseeked as they may have been. Where were they?  Here is the answer:

• The most actively hiring sector was health care, which saw a whopping 70,000 increase in December jobs, nearly half of total. Most of the increase occured in ambulatory health care services (+30,000) and hospitals (+11,000). Social assistance added 20,000 jobs in December, reflecting job growth in individual and family services (+21,000).
• Professional and Busines Services rose by a total of 30,500, the second highest gaining category. here the biggest contributor was Administrative and Waste Services to Buildings and Dwellings, which rose by 10,600.
• Another minimum wage job category that added jobs in December was
  Leisure and Hospitality, which added a grand total of 24,000 jobs. here, the biggest contributor was an old favorite: employment in food services and drinking places, which continued to trend up in December (+30,000).
  
• What is curious is that while retailers have been laying off thousands of people left and right, according to the BLS this category added another 6,300 in December, if a substantial drop from November's 19,500.
• Highly paid construction jobs declined by 3,000 in December after posting a substantial rebound of 17,000 in November
• Just as troubling was the ongoing decline in Information jobs, which declined by 6,000 in December, after dropping double that amount in November
• Also concerning was the sharp drop in Temp Help services: a harbinger of pent up labor demand, this category tumbled by 15,500 in December, the biggest monthly decline in years.
• There was some good news for higher paying wages in December: Employment edged up in manufacturing (+17,000), with a gain of 15,000 in the durable goods component.
• Employment in the highly paid financial activities also continued on an upward trend in December (+13,000).
• Finally, government added an additional 12,000 jobs.

The visual summary is below:

[rey]

I believe that the real rate is in the 20 something percent. I am looking for work and it is difficult. People say there are plenty of jobs, but high taxes, unemployment insurance, high worker comp, etc., most do not pay a wage that I can live on. I need two or three jobs. It is a mess.

[17th Miss Regt]

Donald Trump is already creating a disaster in the economy!

“We are entering a time of hopelessness...”

[Cheerio]

Record 95,102,000 Americans Not in Labor Force; Number Grew 18% Since Obama Took Office in 2009

Data extracted on: January 6, 2017 (11:25:02 AM)
Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey
Series Id: LNS11300000
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Labor Force Participation Rate
Labor force status: Civilian labor force participation rate
Type of data: Percent or rate
Age: 16 years and over


REMEMBER THAT THIS LAIR-IN-CHIEF TOOK OFFICE IN JAN 2009 AS CAN BE CLEARLY SEEN ON THIS CHART OF HIS EXCELLENCY IN ECONOMIC RECOVERY HE SO OFTEN TOUTS with the help of his DNC and LYING media.

[HombreSecreto]

Absolutely! So bogus it rises to the bogus level of Bill and Ted.

[17th Miss Regt]

Far more than 95,000,000 Americans are no longer looking for work.

None of these people would be out of work if Donald Trump had not been elected.

[Carriage Hill]

Not even close to “Seasonally Adjusted” U-6 numbers, which are low, too.

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm

[CodeToad]

[Zuse]

Ah for the good old days when the media sneered at low-wage and part-time burger-flipper jobs. Bush’s fault.

[major-pelham]

Pitiful for a capitalist country of 320 million people.

[daler]

Beginning in Feb., expect the "real" unemployment numbers to be reported.

And tied to Trump, of course.

[Dixie Yooper]

So if the unemployment rate went up, either more jobs were lost than gained or not as many on unemployment, lost their benefits yet.

[Parmy]

The number of jobs created only covers the new workers entering the system. There has to be job creation two or three times that number to make any kind of dent in the unemployment numbers and that has to be for a lot of months into the future.

[HombreSecreto]

Totally agree...and with the obligatory whining, gnashing of teeth, feigned ignorance about GOP “talking points” about changing of methodologies, etc.

[Major Matt Mason]

Notice how the unemployment rate ticked upward, just as Barky is getting ready to leave the scene of the crime. They will now move the rate to the actual unemployment rate and try to hang it around Trump's neck.

[trebb]

That 4.7% is very, very bogus.

Yep - if they hadn't use globull warming type ways to figure it out, it would be 10% to 12 %.