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4 Factors Weighing On Labor Markets—And Implications For Fed Policy (Part 1 of 5) Labor markets are weaker than they appear, leading the Fed toward continued accommodative monetary policy. Still, the central bank may find that weakness difficult to overcome, as much of it stems from serious long-term issues and not merely short-term lack of demand. In recent posts, my colleague Russ Koesterich outlined why the U.S. labor market recovery will continue to frustrate the Fed, and Jeff Rosenberg examined one key reason why the central bank is set to keep rates low for some time. I agree with these...

Another month, another attempt by the BLS to mask the collapse in the US labor force with a goalseeked seasonally-adjusted surge in waiter, bartender and other low-paying jobs. Case in point: after a modest rebound by 0.1% in November, the labor participation rate just slid once more, dropping to 62.7%, or the lowest print since December 1977. This happened because the number of Americans not in the labor forced soared by 451,000 in December, far outpacing the 111,000 jobs added according to the Household Survey, and is the primary reason why the number of uenmployed Americans dropped by 383,000. And...

WASHINGTON -- The United States capped its best year for hiring in 15 years with a healthy gain in December, and the unemployment rate hit a six-year low. The numbers support expectations that the United States will strengthen further this year even as overseas economies stumble. The Labor Department said today that employers added 252,000 jobs last month and 50,000 more in October and November combined than it had previously estimated. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent from 5.8 percent in November. The rate is at its lowest point since 2008. Yet wage growth remains weak. Average hourly pay...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week and job cuts declined sharply in December, suggesting the labor market is tightening. Thursday's reports support views of faster growth this year, driven by consumer spending, despite a faltering global economy. "Labor market conditions continue to improve, providing support for consumers and contributing to a virtuous cycle for the economy," said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 294,000 for the week ended Jan. 3,...

How big a problem is family fragmentation? "Immense," says Mitch Pearlstein, head of the Minnesota think tank Center of the American Experiment. "The biggest domestic problem facing this country." So big he went out and interviewed 40 experts of varying ideology across the nation and relayed their answers in his book "Broken Bonds: What Family Fragmentation Means for America's Future." That's the good news. The bad news is that none of the experts is confident he has an answer, and neither is Pearlstein. What is family fragmentation? The facts are easy to state. About 40 percent of babies born in...

Six years ago this month, America cast its lot toward a young, first-term U.S. Senator from Illinois to lead the greatest nation in the world. His mesmerizing words and bold promises drew folks in by the millions. However, unless you're a bleeding heart liberal, you realize the social experiment of electing an unqualified, former professional antagonizer has been an economic disaster. The quantitative evidence, and it abundant, is overwhelming and ever-growing. ... In 2007, the average household income in America was $55,627. In 2014, that figure had slipped to $53,880 -- Americans earned less on average than they did seven...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A technology company says it will lay off more than 1,500 employees at a Boise call center where workers handle questions about the federal health care law. The Idaho Statesman reports (http://bit.ly/1F11uRI ) that Maximus Inc. has hired, laid off and rehired hundreds of employees at the call center since 2013....

"The work that we do, it’s modern-day slavery," says one Florida worker who just got a 12-cent raise.On New Year’s Day, minimum wage increased in 20 states. More states will bump pay later this year. The first round of hikes will expand paychecks by as much as $1.25 an hour, fattening the wallets of about 3.1 million Americans, according to the Economic Policy Institute. (Peruse Wonkblog or work by our labor reporter Lydia DePillis for more details about how the pay bumps could impact your state.) Economically, the verdict is mixed on minimum wage: Supporters paint the raises as an...

Initial jobless claims finished the year on a so-so note. Claims totaled 298,000 last week, up from last week's 280,000 and worse than expectations for 290,000. Last week's number was also revised up slightly to 281,000. Following the report, economists at BNP Paribas said the four-week moving average in claims remains at low levels — 290,750 — which is consistent with an improving labor market. Initial claims still had a huge year, with 2014's first claims report coming in at 333,000 and claims trending downwards for most of the year.

"Everything is awesome", stated the headline of a recent Politico piece by Michael Grunwald which goes on to list many economic statistics showing how well things are going in the U.S. Indeed, some economic indicators are now better now than when compared to the height of the crisis, but those conditions were bound to change just as most of the water in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina receded without anyone doing much to encourage it. All the same, current claims of doing “better” than during the depth of a major recession hide how bad things still are compared to before the crisis....

Less than half (46%) of U.S. kids younger than 18 years of age are living in a home with two married heterosexual parents in their first marriage. This is a marked change from 1960, when 73% of children fit this description, and 1980, when 61% did, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of recently-released American Community Survey (ACS) and Decennial Census data. Rapid changes in American family structure have altered the image of who’s gathering for the holidays. While the old “ideal” involved couples marrying young, then starting a family, and staying married till “death do they part”, the...

ood news! The U.S. economy grew at a rollicking 5 percent rate in the third quarter. Oh, and it added 320,000 jobs in November, the best of its unprecedented 57 straight months of private-sector employment growth. Just in time for Christmas, the Dow just hit an all-time high and the uninsured rate is approaching an all-time low. Consumer confidence is soaring, inflation is low, gas prices are plunging, and the budget deficit is shrinking. You no longer hear much about the Ebola crisis that dominated the headlines in the fall, much less the border crisis that dominated the headlines over...

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, underscoring the economy's sustained strength. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 280,000 for the week ended Dec. 20, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. It was the lowest reading since Nov. 1 and marked the fourth straight week of declines. "The labor market is tightening up. Any job losses are just normal frictional unemployment in a healthy growing economy," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank in New York.

Yesterday, New York Times readers were treated to a beautifully nuanced and balanced and richly detailed feature about a topic very much in the mix. Its author, Ariel Kaminer, came by her story and its scoop—the first interview with the accused (possibly falsely) rapist of the woman at Columbia who is carrying a mattress around campus to make a statement about campus sexual violence—by developing deep roots in a narrow beat, higher education. And now, Ms. Kaminer will join a hundred or so of her colleagues on the unemployment line as the Times once again cuts costs by cutting journalists....

Democrats are pushing race and environmental issues when they should be embracing the lunch-bucket themes that once built party dominance. Meanwhile, voters flee. Once giants walked this earth, and some of them were Democrats. In sharp contrast to the thin gruel that passes for leadership today, the old party of the people, with all its flaws, shaped much of the modern world, and usually for the better. Think of Franklin Roosevelt or Harry Truman, John Kennedy, or California’s Pat Brown, politicians who believed in American greatness, economic growth, and upward mobility. For more than 40 years, the Democratic Party has...

Somewhat remarkably, given that it has presided over the worst recovery–by far–of the post-war era, the Obama administration tries to slice and dice employment numbers to portray itself as a champion of job creation. There are, indeed, a few more jobs today than there were six years ago. Yet for most Americans, the employment scene has gotten worse, not better. Why is that? Senate Budget Committee staff offer data in explanation: According to BLS data, in November of 2007 there were 23.1 million foreign workers in the United States with jobs. Today, the BLS reports, there are 25.1 million foreign...

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting the labor market continued to strengthen. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 289,000 for the week ended Dec. 13, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The report came a day after the Federal Reserve offered an upbeat assessment of the labor market and the broader economy, and signaled it could start raising interest rates next year. The U.S. central bank, which has kept its short-term interest rate near zero since December 2008, lowered its unemployment rate forecast on...

The number of women in the United States who gave birth dropped last year, according to federal statistics released Thursday, extending the decline for a sixth year. The National Center for Health Statistics reported Thursday that there were 3.93 million births in the United States in 2013, down slightly from 3.95 million in 2012, but 9 percent below the high in 2007. According to the report, the general fertility rate in the United States — the average number of babies women from 15 to 44 bear over their lifetime — dropped to a record low last year, to 1.86 babies,...

The number of beneficiaries who receive compensation from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), otherwise known as food stamps, has topped 46,000,000 for 37 straight months, according to data released by the Department of Agriculture (USDA). In September 2014, which is the latest data from the USDA, there were 46,459,998 Americans who received assistance from the SNAP program. The number of beneficiaries has exceeded 46 million since September 2011, a total of 37 months, or more than three years. [snip]Households on food stamps in September got an average of $252.69 during the month, and the program benefits cost taxpayers $5,748,809,023....

- 10:13 AM In a speech delivered on the Senate floor Friday as the Senate was debating a 1,603-page government funding bill that will permit President Obama to spend tax dollars to implement his unilateral amnesty, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R.-Ala.) argued that trends in U.S. immigration and employment are depressing the job prospects and income of Americans. "This summer alone the White House met 20 times with business executives, amnesty lobbyists, immigration activists to craft their executive amnesty," Sessions said. "You know who wasn’t invited into that room? You, the American citizen. You don’t get a say. "These super-elites in...