Unemployment rate edges down

The unemployment rate dropped slightly for the month of October to 9 percent, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

Unemployment filings way up, despite new jobs

In what likely seems like a paradoxical result, the latest jobs report from the Department of Labor shows that the economy added 244,000 jobs in April but the unemployment rate still jumped from 8.8 percent to 9 percent.

What explains this odd result? The weekly new unemployment claims skyrocketed More…

Department of Labor: unemployment down in March

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the March jobs report this morning and the news was a bit better than expected, with 216,000 new jobs created during the month and a drop of .1 percent in the unemployment rate.

There was no drop in labor force participation, which indicates More…

National employment report points to sustained job growth

The new ADP National Employment Report, which measures only private, non-farm jobs and not government jobs, says that the economy produced 211,000 new private jobs in the past month.

Private-sector employment increased by 201,000 from February to March on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the latest

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Rate of active job seekers crucial to unemployment rate

Bill McBride of the Calculated Risk blog explains why the participation rate — the percentage of Americans either working or actively seeking a job — is crucial in determining how far and how fast the unemployment rate drops.

The participation rate has dropped due to the economic problems of More…

Weekly unemployment report shows decrease in jobless claims

The U.S. Department of Labor’s latest weekly unemployment report shows another sizable decrease in the number of new unemployment claims, down to 368,000.

In the week ending Feb. 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 368,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week’s

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Job growth data indicates further strife

Bill McBride, the economist behind the Calculated Risk blog, sums up the uninspiring data on job growth over the last few years and how the next few will likely play out:

And we have to remember the numbers are grim:

• There are 7.7 million fewer payroll

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Report: New unemployment claims drop again

A bit of good economic news this week as the Department of Labor says new initial unemployment claims last week dropped by 36,000 from the week before, down to 383,000 claims.

It still needs to drop lower — and it has to be offset even more by positive job More…

Jobs report: unemployment rate down, but few new jobs available

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the monthly jobs report for January this morning and, once again, what appears to be very good news on the surface is really bad news when you look at the details.

The good news on the surface is that the national More…

Monthly employment report shows slow job growth

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday its monthly jobs report showing that the unemployment rate declined from 9.8 percent to 9.4 percent — a decrease that is less remarkable upon further examination. The economy added 103,000 jobs in the last month — with the private sector adding 113,000 More…