WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added 192,000 jobs last month, the government reported Friday — the biggest monthly jump since May and the latest sign that the nation’s employment picture is set to brighten this year. The monthly payrolls gain was above market expectations for 185,000 jobs, with factories, professional and business services, education and health care among those expanding employment. As in previous months, the private sector accounted for all the job gains in February, with an addition of 222,000 positions, the most since April and up from 68,000 in January. The Labor Department said the nation’s unemployment rate was 8.9 percent in February, down from 9 percent in January and sinking to a nearly two-year low. More must-see stories feature Fingers walking into a trap ConsumerMan: Misdial a toll-free number and you could wind up connected to a con artist who wants to sneak a charge on to your phone bill. Many NFL players living paycheck-to-paycheck Your Career: Help wanted (except for you) Luxury makes a comeback for the well-heeled ..“These numbers are very good — they’re an indication that we are close to off and running,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told CNBC Friday. Friday’s employment report suggests that companies are feeling more confident in the economy and about their own financial prospects. And it strengthens hopes that businesses will shift into a more aggressive hiring mode and boost the economic recovery. Economists had expected a strong jobs report for February, bolstered by news this week that fewer people sought unemployment benefits than in any week in nearly three years and an upbeat survey from the ADP payrolls firm. Other signs of a brightening economy have come in the form of strong corporate profits, a rise in consumer spending and an expanding service sector. Only the far-right can prevent our recovery.
Well, he did inherit from Bush the biggest ever financial fuck-up this country has ever known, and a couple of ill-conceived unpopular military forays into colonialism of the middle-east. The mere fact he somehow prevented the total collapse of our government and turned it around in a mere 2 years puts him in Lincoln's company. Already destined to be remembered as one of the greatest Presidents ever and still has a couple years to go.
99 weeks is when extended unemployment benefits ran out. Not surprising that when people get cut off the govt. dole, they find jobs. But it's not as rosey as it appears. http://www.cnbc.com/id/41911006 We created 192,000 headline jobs in the February employment report. It’s not enough, but it certainly is welcome news and it is heading in the right direction — although too slowly. We also learned from the February report that the unemployment rate finally trended below the psychologically important 9 percent mark. This is a very big development, considering the rate was pushing the 10 percent level several months ago. Upon closer scrutiny though, there is another factor contributing to the drop that is not necessarily good news: The official size of the U.S. labor force is shrinking.
Oh, I was unaware that everyone became unemployed exactly 99 weeks ago. I had been under the impression it started a couple years before that, while Bush was in charge. At least it did here in Beautiful Central Oregon. As for the labor force shrinking, that's great news because what it means is the illegals are going home to Mexico at a higher rate.
On a serious note, how long do you wait after a change until the results of the change become yours? For instance, I don't want to debate here what Bush did or didn't leave Obama with when he started the Presidency. But at SOME point, Obama's policies/actions have an effect, good or bad. What is that point? I ask b/c at first blush (again, with a corporate bias) this looks like small businesses seeing that the Bush tax cuts now became the Obama tax cuts, and that with no more Democratic majority both houses and the White House, they are spending a bit more of the cash they've been hoarding. So imho could credibly say this was a case of an action by the President (extending the tax cuts) causing a drop in the unemployment numbers. One could also credibly say that the knowledge/hope that a bunch of anti-small-business legislation (whether direct or underlying) wasn't going to be pushed through Congress unilaterally takes away a bit of the fear of both small businesses and big corporations and allows them to open the purse a bit for personnel and capital investment is one of the first big wins for the R's (and, honestly, for the Tea Party-backed R's) in Congress. I'd like to think it's both, but depending on your idea of where the timeline shifts ownership/responsibility/blame you could have a different answer.
This was the money quote for me. It's not about "jobs saved or created" by the gov't (like Census, more federal workers, etc.) but private sector jobs with a chance at a "career", vice a stopgap.
I don't believe that is correct. Being (counted as) unemployed is not the same as drawing unemployment benefits. barfo
None of Obama's policies have been implemented without drastic editing, weakening, even reversing by our representatives. And the stimulus bailout of Wall Street was actually authored by Bush, so it's hard to give credit where credit may or may not be due. Most importantly, many things got stopped getting worse right away. This country was heading full speed towards total collapse. Many things have gotten better quite noticeably. Some things will never improve, and some things will get worse depending on what your ideology. Overall, I don't believe the concept of honest government can be realized in a capitalistic society. It's all sleight of hand to obscure the bigger picture. Inflation has been around 1%, but healthcare fees have more than doubled in the last 3 years and gas is far higher than is justified by the price of oil. We're about to start our 3rd middle-east invasion and FEMA is doubling their efforts to complete hundreds of citizen-internment camps here at home. Jobs are the least of our worries.
Hi Denny. Let me know when we can stop this Libertarian talk. Libertarians are against both parties equally. Maybe moreso against the right because they are the hypocrites who say they stand for something and do the exact opposite. At least the Dems will tell you right out... "Bigger Government, More spending".
What's shocking to me is how the BLS has become politicized. When did the BLS decide to shrink our pool of available jobs? And, more importantly, why? Getting 222,000 private sector jobs is great, but that number shouldn't be enough to compensate for labor pool growth. That number indicates us treading water or even slipping a bit. Gallup has us at 10.3% for the U3 which is slightly up and which appears to me to be the more objective number.
You're not making any sense here. One party is at least talking like they want smaller government, and the other promises totalitarianism. I don't see the choice between either as being a good one, but what's the point in ragging on republicans if they're not in power? As far as I'm concerned, the Democrats want to destroy 1/2 the bill of rights and the republicans the other 1/2. As a realist, and as long as there's going to be a 2 party system with 3rd parties kept out of the mix, my best hope is for divided government and gridlock. I'm hoping for govt. shutdown, and I loved it when it happened during the Clinton presidency. Why? Because it'll give us a taste of what it's like to not have so much government, and I am sure there'll be a lot of whining from the left and the media, but so be it. In the end, people will realize they can make it without big government.
Democrats are totalitarian? Um... okay. The problem is, Republicans want nothing to do with small government when they are in power. It is all rhetoric, and only happens while a Democrat is in power. That is why Libertarians are furious with Republicans. At least Dems are straight forward. And if anything, Democrats are going toward socialism? (not even true but an extreme) the likes of Norway/Denmark, which seems to be working fine for them. Totalitarian is simply fear mongering and total B.S. The closest thing to that i've seen recently was the Bush regime. What is the good of ragging on Democrats while they are in power? It makes no difference. The republicans control the House, and probably have more say in congress than the Democrats. Yet that doesn't matter to you at all. That is your rhetoric when you are called out on bias, but in your posts you seem to heavily favor the Republican party (big government republican party, because there really is no small government republican). It is difficult to find you posting links or articles to things with right wing bias, pictures of right wing politicians with dictators, articles about how republicans are in bed with multi national corporations. Instead of your arguments being "the government should simply stay out of this", your arguments seem to only attack the left, followed by calling yourself a libertarian and against republicans as much as democrats.
LOL. Now you're being funny. I should somehow like the democrats because they're being honest about robbing us and putting us under strict govt. rule? You make accusations without support (my arguments ARE "the govt. should simply stay out of this" and even better, "the govt. is to blame for what's going wrong."). Somehow my attacking democrats for doing the opposite (getting govt. as far into "this" as possible) is a bad thing? I can't begin to count the number of times I posted the Republicans spent like drunk sailors when they were in power, and that I hope Obama gets re-elected, and that I hope for gridlock. What more do you want from me?
I am working this out as I type so go with me here, I think he is mad because he equates the Republicans with rapists that talk like they are virgins who have not raped anyone while the Democrats are honest car thieves who are proud of it???????????????????? I guess the only hope for the country is that the rapists stop raping us and act like they talk. The car thieves can just get fucked IMO. I think that actually helped me realize why I prefer the scumbag Republicans to the Democrats even though when I take those tests I get a bullseye every time.
More interesting is how only ~300k jobs have been added in the last 3 months, yet the UE rate drops by a full point.
