Government’s Latest Jobs Report

The Labor Department published their April jobs report and it is encouraging and discouraging at the same time. Jobs have been added for three consecutive months but the unemployment rate increased from 9.7% to 9.9%. The only reason for this increase is that new job seekers are entering the market. Thus, the “underemployed” is more of an issue than reported and should be a concern.

In April the “underemployment” rate is 17.1% which includes part-time workers and people who have stopped looking. I contend this is even higher due to the lack of reporting of the self-employed. The report also outlines what sector jobs are being added:

Manufacturing 44,000
Restaurants & Bars 21,000
Health Care 20,100
Construction 14,000
Retailer 12,400
Computer Services 7,300

Since I am not an expert but enjoy the statistics, the above job types really lack substance to sustain a recovery. The media cited the positive numbers in construction as a significant turnaround. This represents less than 300 jobs per state! Let’s watch this number as the Labor Department issues subsequent jobs reports.

Will there be a trend up in construction?

We certainly are entering the construction “season”.

Let’s hope this positive movement is a serious trend. If so, is your business ready for the turnaround?

The following two illustrations are from TIME Magazine, March 29, 2010 issue. By the way, please take note of the number of unemployed workers per job opening in construction.