I actually read the articles, so there's no surprise that when more people are back in the market looking for employment, unemployment numbers tick up.
That's not something that Republicans would complain about with a GOP president either. Just like they didn't lose their sh*t over the 'real unemployment rate, back in the day.
That's not something that Republicans would complain about with a GOP president either. Just like they didn't lose their sh*t over the 'real unemployment rate, back in the day.
Quote:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/09/business/ec...wages.html
The official unemployment rate did rise to 4.9 percent, from 4.7 percent, but that was largely because more Americans rejoined the work force. And average hourly earnings ticked up again, continuing a pattern of rising wages that brought the yearly gain to 2.6 percent.
“Wow, this one takes my breath away,” said Diane Swonk, an independent economist in Chicago.
An unexpectedly grim employment report in May combined with Britain’s vote to leave the European Union had fanned wider concerns that the American economy was in danger of stalling. During its meeting last month, the Federal Reserve unanimously decided to postpone increasing the benchmark interest rate.
But the latest Labor Department report, Ms. Swonk said, gives the Fed “a cushion” to consider a bump in rates later this year.
Financial markets rallied on the announcement, with the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index gaining 1.5 percent to end the day just short of the record close it recorded last year.
But the political response was relatively muted, in deference to the shootings of police officers in Dallas. Both presidential candidates canceled campaign events, and the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump, tweeted that he had postponed a scheduled speech on economic opportunity.
At the moment, though, the Democrats are best poised to take advantage of the positive employment news.
Lynn Vavreck, a professor of political science at University of California, Los Angeles, said that when it came to presidential elections, the economic trend was more important than any particular number. “As long as it’s going in the right direction,” she said, “that’s a good sign for the incumbent party.”
Concerns persist about the vitality of the economic recovery, which reached the seven-year point this month. And perhaps nothing highlights the reality that every monthly jobs report provides only a fleeting and incomplete picture more than the giddy swing between May’s revised gain of 11,000 and June’s 287,000. (A strike by more than 35,000 Verizon workers had artificially held down May’s totals.)
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Striking Verizon workers were missing from the May employment numbers, but they have returned to work. Credit Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times
Still, Friday’s report, showing the largest single monthly job expansion since October 2015, helped whisk away some of the cloudiest forecasts. The three-month average of monthly gains rose to 147,000, after taking into account the Labor Department’s revised estimates that showed 6,000 fewer jobs were created in April and May than previously reported. June’s figures will be subject to two more revisions.
“This report should ease any fears that a persistent slowdown or recession is coming soon in the U.S.,” said Dean Maki, chief economist at Point72 Asset Management. “The service sector is where the real strength is, with 256,000 hires. But the gains were widespread across sectors.”
Mr. Maki pointed out that the vigorous report was in line with several other encouraging signs. New claims for unemployment benefits have stayed at rock-bottom levels. Consumer spending is strong. The manufacturing and service industry indexes have jumped. And the number of unfilled jobs, 5.8 million in April, is at a record since the survey began.
