Thread: Mass Flight From U.S. Labor Force Drives Down April Unemployment

Mass Flight From U.S. Labor Force Drives Down April Unemployment

May 2, 2014 by Ben Bullard

The U.S. labor force benefited from the creation of 288,000 jobs last month, the highest number since the start of 2012, and the National rate of unemployment concurrently fell from 6.7 percent in March to 6.3 percent.
You can see how Bloomberg and the Associated Press reported the good news here and here.
Read far enough into those stories – and it will take you a while – and you’ll eventually encounter the lede: The number of people participating in the U.S. labor force in April shrank by a staggering 800,000. As you know, people who aren’t looking for work aren’t counted in the BLS’ calculation of the unemployment rate. Yet the number of people who have bowed out of the American labor force now stands at 92 million.
That’s nearly one-third of the population of the entire country – and roughly 38 percent of the 241 million residents over the age of 18.
With 38 percent of American adults not even trying to find work, what difference does a 6.3 percent unemployment rate make? The Obama Administration found the silver lining in the April numbers, noting that the actual rate of job creation is, in fact accelerating – which, so far as it goes, is certainly true – and that several economic sectors saw an uptick in hiring during April (also true).
But the Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers also reveal that hourly earnings did not increase – an indicator that much of that growth is still coming in the form of low-wage, low-skill jobs (so much for closing that pernicious wealth gap, Obama).
And, stepping back, the labor economy in the U.S. reflects an ongoing anemic “recovery” trend – one that hasn’t seen growth commensurate with periods of economic growth through the last two decades of the 20^th Century – often cited as a benchmark by which present economic growth is measured.
“Unfortunately, the effects of currency manipulation on the U.S. economy – along with self-imposed restraints on oil and gas development and the manifest inefficiencies imposed by dysfunctional management and profiteering in health care, higher education, and finance – have lowered U.S. annual growth to 1.7 percent since the turn of the century from the 3.4 percent pace accomplished during the Reagan-Clinton era,” wrote Peter Morici for Breitbart today.
“Consequently, jobs creation lags population growth. The unemployment rate, which fell to 6.3 percent in April from 6.7 percent the prior month, wholly masks the extent of the problem. The percentage of adults seeking employment dropped precipitously. One out of six men between the ages of 25 and 54 are without jobs, and many have given up looking for work and are not counted in the jobless rate.”

http://personalliberty.com/mass-flig...-unemployment/

Senate Democrats Declare Victory Over Winter Weather, Praise Collapse In Jobless Rate

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/02/2014 10:20 -0400

• Joint Economic Committee
• Unemployment

Statement from JEC Vice Chair Klobuchar on April 2014 Employment Report

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Vice Chair of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), released the following statement on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ April 2014 jobs report showing that 288,000 total nonfarm jobs were added and the unemployment fell from 6.7% to 6.3%:

"After a long hard winter it is good news that the employment numbers are picking up.

To hit the lowest unemployment rate in five and a half years is a positive sign as we move into the summer season that should bring more construction and tourism jobs.

Many American families are still struggling with high costs of housing, childcare and college and we need to continue our work to give them a fair shot."

Where are the banners proclaiming Mission Accomplished?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...e-jobless-rate

Workers Younger Than 55 Lost 259K Jobs In April

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/02/2014 09:53 -0400

• BLS
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Great Depression
• recovery

Taking another peek beneath the only headline that vacuum tubes and algos care about, namely the headline establishment survey print, reveals another mockery of a "recovery", because in addition to the farce that 1 million Americans were added to the "not in labor force" number, a breakdown of jobs added by age group reveals more of the same. Namely, in the one most important age group for jobs, those workers aged 25-54 which represent the bulk of the US labor force and are also the best and most productive group, the total number of jobs tumbled from 95,360K to 95,151K, a drop of 209K!
But wait, because it wasn't just the most important age group bucket: it was all younger workers who got the shaft: jobs in the 16-19 age group dropped by 24K, while those in the 20-24 age group declined by another 26K, which means that in the "young" workers category, those under 55, some 259K jobs were lost.
So did anyone gain jobs in April? Why yes: according to the establishment survey, the only beneficiary of whatever this "recovery" is, were workers aged 55-69, who gained 174K jobs.



In fact, while the total number of jobs lost since the great depression may have been recovered, looking at this data set broken down by age groups reveals something very different: a recovery which continues to favor the old, those 55 and older, at the expense of the young, or those below 55, who still have 2.8 million jobs to go before recouping losses.



Source: BLS

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...09k-jobs-april