“The unemployment rate edged down to 10.0 percent in November, and nonfarm
payroll employment was essentially unchanged (-11,000), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.”
That’s the opening sentence from today’s employment report: http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
Good news indeed! When you connect the latest dot to the chart below you can see how the situation has improved.
Job Growth
Click on image to enlarge)
Recessions shaded
And there was more good news in the report.
Manufacturing overtime, which had been 2.8 hours/week in the second quarter and 3.0 hours in the third, rose to 3.4 hours in November. This is an important leading indicator and provides additional hope that the worst of the employment contraction may be drawing to a close.
Knock on wood……
(The chart was taken from http://www.beyourowneconomist.com. [Click on Seminars and then Charts.] Go there for additional charts on the economy and a list of economic indicators.)
© 2009 Michael B. Lehmann
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