Free Republic

There are political movements to push the federal minimum hourly wage to $15. Raising the minimum wage has popular support among Americans. Their reasons include fighting poverty, preventing worker exploitation and providing a living wage. For the most part, the intentions behind the support for raising the minimum wage are decent. But when we evaluate public policy, the effect of the policy is far more important than intentions. So let's examine the effects of increases in minimum wages. The average wage for a cashier is around $10 an hour, about $21,000 a year. That's no great shakes, but it's an...

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to near a 44-year low last week, pointing to further tightening of the labor market even as economic growth appears to have remained moderate in the first quarter.

Initial Reaction The payroll survey shows a net gain of 248,000 jobs vs. an expectation of 215,000 jobs. Last month was revised up by 69,000 to 180,000. The six-month string of plus 200,000 jobs remains broken. Last month the household survey had a gain in employment of only 16,000. That number was not revised up. This month the household survey shows a respectable gain of 232,000, pretty much in line with the establishment survey. Nonetheless the household survey over the past six months has been much weaker than the establishment survey. One or the other is apt for some serious...

With school employees returning to work, Sonoma County’s unemployment rate dipped in August to 5.4 percent, the lowest rate for the month in seven years. In August, Sonoma had the fifth-lowest unemployment rate among the state’s 58 counties. Marin ranked first with a rate of 4.2 percent. Napa ranked fourth at 4.8 percent, Mendocino was 12th at 6.1 percent and Lake, 40th at 8.9 percent.

The household survey is simply insane. Do not pay any attention to it. Do not make eye contact. Just calmly walk away. It’s simply not believable that the labor market contracted so violently according to one survey, while at the same time a separate survey of business establishments showed strong payroll growth of 288,000. Consider this: The jobless rate fell because 733,000 fewer people were considered unemployed. That’s the largest one-month decline since 1949, when unemployment fell by 920,000 when two large national strikes concluded. Nothing like that happened in April.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent last month, dropping below 8 percent for the first time in nearly four years and giving President Barack Obama a potential boost with the election a month away. The rate declined from 8.1 percent because the number of people who said they were employed soared by 873,000 — an encouraging sign for an economy that's been struggling to create enough jobs. The number of unemployed Americans is now 12.1 million, the fewest since January 2009.

The latest jobs report was a major disappointment, as the 80K number of net new jobs created was below the 100K that was expected, and well below any pace that will quickly reduce the unemployment number, which remains elevated at 8.2%. And so we bring you the latest, updated version of this famous chart from Bill McBride at Calculated Risk, which shows the trajectory of the jobs decline (starting at the beginning of the recession) and the recovery, compared to all of the other post-WWII recessions. Once again, the decline is far deeper than anything previous that we've seen, and...

Democrats said their costly plan ($1.2 trillion, including interest) would “save or create” up to 4 million jobs and bring the unemployment rate down to about 6% today. The unemployment rate has not fallen below 8% at any point in the last 36 months. Furthermore, the official unemployment rate does not actually count unemployed people who have given up looking for work. The above chart shows the “labor force participation rate.” This statistic represents the share of working-age Americans who are either employed or unemployed but looking for work. It is not a pretty picture. Only 63.7% of working-age Americans...

Absolute disaster. Total jobs per the establishment survey: +18K on expectations of 105K, Private Jobs + 57K on expectations of 132K. Last month total was revised from 54K to 25K. Combined April and May revision down 44K. The household survey was down by 445K from 139,779 to 139,334. Birth death adjustment + 131K. Complete humiliation for Wall Street's economists, the lowest prediction of whom came Bob Brusca at +60K. From the NFP: "Nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged in June (+18,000), and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment...

U.S. employment growth ground to a halt in June, with employers hiring the fewest number of workers in nine months, dampening hopes the economy was on the cusp of regaining momentum after stumbling in recent months. Nonfarm payrolls rose only 18,000, the weakest reading since September, the Labor Department said on Friday, well below economists' expectations for a 90,000 rise. Many economists raised their forecasts on Thursday after a stronger-than-expected reading on U.S. private hiring from payrolls processor ADP, and they expected gains of anywhere between 125,000 and 175,000. The unemployment rate climbed to 9.2 percent, the highest since December,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, a government report showed on Thursday, suggesting little improvement in the labor market this month after employment stumbled in May. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits climbed 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 429,000, the Labor Department said. The prior week's figure was revised up to 420,000.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employment recorded a second straight month of solid gains in March and the jobless rate fell to a two-year low of 8.8 percent, marking a decisive shift in the labor market that should help to underpin the economic recovery. Nonfarm payrolls rose 216,000 last month, the largest increase since May, the Labor Department said on Friday. January and February employment figures were revised to show 7,000 more jobs than previously reported. The strong job gains come amid indications the economy suffered a minor setback early in the year as bad weather and rising energy prices dampened...

A Jobless Rate Still Unaffected by New Hiring By MOTOKO RICH SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — After hemorrhaging jobs for months, the economy is finally starting to add them. Yet the unemployment rate is not really budging because of people like Regina Myles. Ms. Myles, 51, has been out of work for three years. After a grueling job search yielded 150 interviews but no offers, she simply stopped looking last fall. Then this spring, with a $3,000 government-funded grant to help pay for a training course at a local beauty school in this Chicago suburb, she began applying for jobs online and...

In a stunningly futile attempt to hide the facts concerning the job market this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, stated that he had 'good news.' And what, exactly, was that 'good news?' Reid continued, 'Only 36,000 lost their jobs in February.' This is good news, how? According to Reid it was not as bad as expected and not as alarming as it was during 2009. One is hard-pressed to find any good news in 36,000 more Americans losing their jobs in one month. But then, as bad as it is, this is a drop in the bucket compared...

THE experts are very confident that Friday's report on the employment market for November will show the least number of job losses in quite a while, perhaps as few as 114,000. I hope that's true. But I don't think it will be. As you know, these monthly job figures are very important to traders on Wall Street who can make money when the financial markets are confronted with surprises. And with all that's going on in the world -- Dubai's problems, America's economic crisis and the US stock market's seeming indifference to both -- a bad report Friday will just...

Even a casual observer of the Obama administration cannot help but notice the lack of concern about the unemployment rate from the president on down. Obama himself has casually talked about unemployment hitting 10%, his economic advisors have spoken with uncharacteristic candor about a "jobless recovery' and there is no urgency anywhere within the administration to treat the problem. Further, the Stimulus package has been anything but a long-term job creator. In fact, much of the stimulus is merely a hodge-podge of short-term projects, heavy on pork, but short on lasting economic impact. Conversely, the administration seems to be pursuing...

WASHINGTON - Job growth slowed in December - following a big hiring spurt in November - with US employers expanding payrolls by just 108,000, underscoring the sometimes choppy path travelled by job seekers. The Labour Department's fresh snapshot of the nation's jobs climate, released on Friday, also showed that the unemployment rate dipped from 5 per cent in November to 4.9 per cent in December, as some people left the labour market for any number of reasons. The 108,000 gain in payrolls registered in December followed a big pickup of 305,000 jobs added in November, according to revised figures released...