President Sees Positive Results In Recent Labor Stats

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released some arguably disappointing employment numbers for July, but President Barack Obama touted the progress that the private sector is making and acknowledged that Americans need faster relief.

“July’s job numbers reflect in part expected loss related to the Census winding down,” Obama said. “But the fact is, we’ve now added private sector jobs every month this year instead of losing them.. that’s a good sign.”
 
The president also credited progress to the addition of 183,000 jobs to the manufacturing sector. Obama said the recent revival of Ford, GM and Chrysler, two of which were on the verge of bankruptcy, is testament to continuing progress in the industry.

“All three U.S. automakers are posting a profit for the first time since 2004,” Obama touted. “Since they emerged, the auto industry has added 76,000 jobs, that’s the good news.”

Obama acknowledged the notion that, although progress is increasingly evident, change is not materializing fast enough for American families. He praised the Senate for passing legislation Thursday that boosts aid to states in an effort to keep teachers and other public officers on states’ payroll.

“Speaker Pelosi said she’s going to bring the House back in session to pass this bill, and as soon as they do, I’m ready to sign it into law,” Obama said. “[We] need to speed our recovery so it reaches the people and places who need relief not a year from now, not six months from now, but now, right now.”

May Job Increase Only Nominal

by Miles Wolf Tamboli - Talk Radio News

The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Friday that employment grew by 431,000 jobs in May; however, 411,000 of these jobs can be attributed to the temporary governmental employment of Census 2010 workers.

"While these are encouraging developments, we clearly have a very long way to go until the labor market is fully recovered," said Christina Romer, Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers in a statement.

In the private sector, there was a marginal increase in employment - 41,000 jobs - but this is only a drop in the bucket for the 15 million still left jobless.

However, hidden in this report is a sparkle of optimism. The number of involuntary part-time workers - those who cannot find a full-time job or whose hours had been cut back - fell by about 4 percent to 8.8 million.

This new batch of information shows that, although unemployment has fallen since April, the change has only been nominal and the rate has continued to rise since 2009.

Romer also emphasized that "it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report, positive or negative. ... Emphasis should be placed on persistent trends rather than month-to-month fluctuations."

Unemployment high in March, Officials say

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

A day after President Barack Obama's budget was passed by a Congress boiling with partisanship, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report showing unemployment at its highest since 1983. There are now 13.2 million Americans out of work.

The pouring rain in Washington mirrored the sobered mood in the room, as the Joint Economic Committee heard the testimony of Keith Hall, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

March was one of the worst Months on record for unemployment, and when asked outright, Hall told the committee that there were no "bright spots" in the report.

National unemployment climbed to 8.5 percent in March, rising from the level of 8.1 percent in February and 7.6 percent in January.

Hall said that two-thirds of the job loss has happened in the past 5 months. Every state is in recession for the first time in 30 years, according to Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).

Official unemployment numbers do not encompass underemployed Americans or those who have officially left the workforce. It is reported that 16 percent of the country is out of work or underemployed. One in four of those unemployed have been out of work for more than six months, and of those, half have been looking for work for over a year, Hall said.

Maloney highlighted that last month, 8,000 jobs were lost in the news publishing industry. Those losses total 70,000 job cuts since Dec. 2007, Hall said, adding that most job losses have been see in the manufacturing, construction, and temporary services industries. The only area to see any growth in March was the Healthcare industry, Hall said.

Ranking Committee member Senator Sam Brownback (R-KA) noted that the impact of the ongoing recession was not severe for almost a year after it began in December 2007. Brownback attributed recent dramatic jumps in job losses over the past five months to the lockup in the credit markets and the government bailouts that followed.

The Federal Reserve believes that unemployment will peak at 8.8 percent this year, but Ranking House Committee Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) said that the unemployment rate is already higher than what the administration anticipated for 2009. Brady said that the Obama Administration's "optimistic assumptions" would not get the country out of its current mess.

President Obama’s Economic Stimulus package was passed by Congress earlier this year, and saw an unprecedented amount of money placed into public works meant to put people back to work. Obama has pledged the legislation will save or create three to four million jobs over the next two years.

Read the report here: Bureau of Labor Statistics Report

Senator Robert P. Casey (D-PA) addresses the minority unemployment rate

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Senator Robert P. Casey (D-PA) and Keith Hall, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics address the minority unemployment rate today at a Joint Economic Committee hearing. The unemployment rates for African-Americans and Latino's rise by more than any other race. The hearing was held to address today's statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor which released the rise in the unemployment rate which has risen from 7.2 to 7.6 percent. (3:01)

Congress works to stall unemployment

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said that the United States is in "an unbearable financial situation" in a Joint Economic Committee Hearing. She said the job market has been "deteriorating" for the last year.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Keith Hall said that jobs have been lost for nine consecutive months. According to Hall, a recession is realized after nine or 10 consecutive months of job losses. He said that the biggest job losses have been in industries such as manufacturing, retail, and construction. Hall said the U.S. currently has "a broadly weak labor market." He also said said that the many jobs that have been shipped overseas "did not return."

The September Jobs Report released today, showed that 159,000 jobs were lost this September, the highest monthly loss in five years and the unemployment rate is at 6.1 percent. The report also said that while wages have increased by 3.4 percent in the last year, inflation has increased by 5.4 percent.