THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN MY OWN BROTHER BARACK THE LOVELY HUSBAND TO MY OWN SISTER AT HEART LADY MIC-HIE OBAMA THE AMERICAN FIRST LADY ON YOUR OCTOBER JOB CREATION.PLACING ENOUGH FOODS ON THE TABLES OF YOUR PEOPLE, IN THE NAME OF CARRYING YOUR OWN PEOPLE ALONG.(21400 JOBS MARVELOUS.) BARACK YOU ARE BLESSED.A CONSIDERATE HUMAN BEING. Economy Solid Job Gains Belie Economic Unease Even as Signs of Strength Emerge in Labor Market, Americans Remain Anxious The U.S. labor market in October reached its longest stretch of job creation since at least World War II, a run at odds with a slow pickup in wages and voter discontent with the economy. U.S. employers, which added 214,000 jobs to payrolls last month, are on pace to post the best yearly gain in employment since 1999. The steady job growth has pushed the nation’s unemployment rate down to 5.8% last month, closer to a level many economists consider healthy. It also suggests U.S. businesses are largely shrugging off mounting worries about overseas growth that contributed to market tumult in the first half of last month. WSJs Simon Constable, Sudeep Reddy and Justin Lahart analyze the October employment report and whether it might trigger a rate hike by the Fed. Photo: Getty Yet while Friday’s report from the Labor Department showed the 49th straight month of job gains, the current expansion trails several other shorter rebounds in terms of total job growth. The positive reading came just days after voters flipped control of Congress to Republicans, in part due to economic concerns. Exit polls during Tuesday’s election pointed to unease over the strength and breadth of the economic expansion. Job growth has been fueled in part by some workers trading good-paying jobs lost during the recession for lower-paying positions or part-time work. That has been one factor constraining incomes and restraining consumer spending. As a result, the economy grew 2.3% during the 12 months ending in September, roughly matching the modest gains of the prior three years. In remarks before a Cabinet meeting at the White House, President Barack Obama noted the clouds still hovering over the economy. “Despite this solid growth, despite the drop in unemployment, there are still a lot of folks out there who are anxious about their futures, who are having trouble making ends meet at the end of the month,” he said. After winning control of the Senate for the first time in eight years, GOP leaders said the economy will be their top priority. “We will honor the voters’ trust by focusing, first, on jobs and the economy,” House Speaker John Boehner and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed this past week. The long streak of job gains does point to a much improved economy nearly seven years after the deepest recession since the Great Depression. In many ways, consistent U.S. growth is the envy of the world. China’s economy, still far outpacing U.S. growth, is showing signs of slowing along with other emerging economies, while the eurozone is again flirting with recession. The U.S. “economy is slowly becoming less fragile and less susceptible to shocks,” said BNP Paribas economist Laura Rosner. “Ultimately, more people are at work and that should lead to more spending.” Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, shown in August, has been watching the jobs numbers closely for signs of diminishing “slack.” ENLARGE Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, shown in August, has been watching the jobs numbers closely for signs of diminishing “slack.” Associated Press Many U.S. firms are reporting improving sales and profits. Simmons Machine Tool Corp., which makes equipment used to repair railway wheels, is expecting sales to grow better than 10% this year. The Albany, N.Y., firm added 10 workers to its 100-person staff, and is looking to hire six more. “Business has been very good, we’ve recently signed some major contracts,” said Simmons President David William Davis. Expanding use of railcars to ship oil and motor vehicles, and public transit systems stepping up improvements after years of putting off work, is fueling growth. “The only challenge for us is finding enough skilled people.” Still, the global economy is weighing on some firms’ hiring decisions. Terex Corp. , a Westport, Conn., maker of construction equipment, laid off about 500 employees from its aerial-work-platforms division in recent months in response to disappointing profits. The firm, which has multiple facilities and customers in Brazil, cited the U.S. dollar strengthening against the Brazilian currency as a particular challenge. “We decided to release the temporary workers,” Terex division President Matt Fearon told investors last week, “and to settle into a capacity position that matches the actual demand that we expect to see for the balance of the year.” Job growth across the entire economy is the longest on record, with total payrolls climbing every month since October 2010, putting the current stretch just past the 48-month run in the late 1980s. The current streak for only private-sector employers is seven months longer. But it’s certainly not the strongest stretch. Recoveries in the 1970s, 80s and 90s included job growth that was larger than the current rebound, despite those expansions being shorter. The latest economic expansion, which started in mid-2009, has failed so far to produce a significant upturn in wages. Friday’s report offered a mixed view on workers’ pay. Average hourly earnings for private-sector workers rose 2% in October compared with a year earlier. That’s in line with gains recorded for most of the year and barely above the mild pace of inflation. But the number of hours Americans are working is rising, and that’s helping boost incomes. Average weekly earnings advanced 2.6% from a year earlier, the best 12-month increase since January 2012. Ann Brennan, an administrative assistant in Tampa, Fla., found a job in June just months after being laid off from a full-time position. But the job is part-time and pays $20 an hour, a slightly lower rate than her prior, salaried job. Ms. Brennan, 64 years old, said she earns less today than she did 15 years ago. “It’s not bad, but it’s not enough to pay all the bills,” she said. “At least I’m off unemployment.” Much of the hiring in recent months has been concentrated in lower-wage fields, including at stores and restaurants. Retail and hospitality jobs accounted for 37% of the total gain last month. Over the past year, those sectors contributed about a quarter of all new jobs, down from more than a third the prior 12 months. Consistent hiring, even in low-wage fields, appears to be diminishing overall slack in the labor market. That eventually should support wage growth. The October jobs report, with the jobless rate ticking down to a six-year low, contained good news. But was it good enough? McGladrey chief economist Joe Brusuelas joins MoneyBeat to explain. Photo: iStock/Squaredpixels. A broader measure of unemployment—including involuntary part-time workers and Americans too discouraged to apply for jobs—fell by three-tenths of a percentage point to 11.5% in October. That broader rate is at its lowest point since 2008. The share of Americans who are working rose to 59.2% in October, up a full percentage point from a year earlier. That marks an upward trend for a reading that’s largely held flat since the recession. The sense that the labor market is tightening has Back Yard Burgers Inc. contemplating something it hasn’t in years: raises for its workers. The Nashville, Tenn.-based restaurant chain closed more than half of its locations during the recession, but has since stabilized its business. Chief Executive David McDougall said his customers are buying more burgers thanks to rising confidence and gasoline prices that dropped below $3 a gallon this month. Consumers are “a little bit more positive,” he said. “There’s no question that the reduction in fuel prices is psychologically a good thing.” Better sales will support raises between 3% and 5% for most employees next year. “There hadn’t been any increases for a while due to the company’s financial condition, but our folks worked hard this year,” Mr. McDougall said. “We want to reward those out there making it happen.” —Josh Mitchell and Jeffrey Sparshott contributed to this article. Write to Eric Morath at eric.morath@wsj
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 12:20:31 +0000
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