Good job numbers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics employment figures for April are out — and the U.S. economy created 288,000 jobs last month. The number of persons unemployed for 27 weeks or longer declined by 188,000. Revised figures show that since January, manufacturing employment has increased by 37,000. Over the course of this year, average hourly earnings ...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics employment figures for April are out -- and the U.S. economy created 288,000 jobs last month. The number of persons unemployed for 27 weeks or longer declined by 188,000. Revised figures show that since January, manufacturing employment has increased by 37,000. Over the course of this year, average hourly earnings have grown by by 2.2 percent, and average weekly earnings have increased by 2.5 percent. In 2004, the economy has averaged the creation of over 200,000 new jobs per month. In related news, the Financial Times reports that:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics employment figures for April are out — and the U.S. economy created 288,000 jobs last month. The number of persons unemployed for 27 weeks or longer declined by 188,000. Revised figures show that since January, manufacturing employment has increased by 37,000. Over the course of this year, average hourly earnings have grown by by 2.2 percent, and average weekly earnings have increased by 2.5 percent. In 2004, the economy has averaged the creation of over 200,000 new jobs per month. In related news, the Financial Times reports that:
First-time claims for unemployment support in the week to May 1 fell by 25,000 to 315,000 – the lowest since October 2000. Continuing claims for unemployment benefit, which tend to provide a better indication of hiring activity, also declined sharply, dropping 69,000 to 2.9m during the week to April 24.
Much of this is due to continued strength in the service sector. Of course, the economy has had to struggle to create jobs this year in the wake of massive job losses due to offshore outsourcing. Oh wait, according to this BLS breakdown, the economy has created over 200,000 jobs in the “professional business and services” category in 2004, the sector designated as most vulnerable to job losses from offshoring (to be fair, employment in “computer systems design and related services” has fallen by 6,000 since January). So, great news — but I’d really like the Bush administration to take the following warning from Alan Greenspan seriously:
The resolution of our current account deficit and household debt burdens does not strike me as overly worrisome, but that is certainly not the case for our yawning fiscal deficit. Our fiscal prospects are, in my judgment, a significant obstacle to long-term stability because the budget deficit is not readily subject to correction by market forces that stabilize other imbalances.
Read the whole speech. UPDATE: Bruce Bartlett points out that due to the economic recovery, the Congressional Budget Office projects tax revenues for this fiscal year to be up by $100 billion.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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