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“Into each life… (U.S. unemployment for April 2010)

…some rain must fall.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Rainy Day

It is raining, more like sprinkling occasionally, in the San Francisco Bay Area today, which is quite good actually, just unusual for this time of year. Bay Area Doppler radar is here.

So… I thought that I would catch up on some unfinished, rainy-day business, writing about the U.S. unemployment report for April 2010, which was released on May 7.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, nonfarm payroll employment ROSE by 290,000 in April, the unemployment rate increased slightly to 9.9%, and the labor force increased SHARPLY!

So, the report is more like scattered sprinkles, than heavy rain…. (Unemployed folks, please don’t find me unsympathetic – it seems like heavy rain to me, too!)

The report stated:

Job gains occurred in manufacturing, professional and business services, health care, and leisure and hospitality. Federal government employment also rose, reflecting continued hiring  of temporary workers for Census 2010.

The unemployment rate edged up slightly to 9.9%, after having been flat at 9.7% for the first three months of the year. The number of unemployed persons was 15.3 million.

Among the major worker groups:

…the unemployment rate for whites (9.0 percent) edged up in April, while the rates for adult men (10.1 percent), adult women (8.2 percent), teenagers (25.4 percent), blacks (16.5 percent), and Hispanics (12.5 percent) showed little or no change. The jobless rate for Asians was 6.8 percent, not seasonally adjusted.

In April, the number of long-term unemployed (jobless for 27 weeks or more) trended upward, reaching 6.7 million. During April, 45.9% of the unemployed had been jobless for 27 weeks or more.

BUT, “among the unemployed, the number or reentrants to the labor force rose by 195,000 over the month.” In April, the size of the labor force rose by 805,000.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was about unchanged at 9.2 million in April. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

In addition, there are those called “marginally attached to the workforce,” who are not counted as unemployed:

“About 2.4 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in April, compared with 2.1 million a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.”

“Among the marginally attached, there were 1.2 million discouraged workers in April, up by 457,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.2 million persons marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.”

The Employment Situation Summary also has generally good news with regard to employment in various fields, with a few “scattered showers” on a generally sunny day:

“Manufacturing added 44,000 jobs in April. Since December, factory employment has risen by 101,000. Over the month, gains occurred in several durable goods industries, including fabricated metals (9,000) and machinery (7,000). Employment also grew in nondurable goods manufacturing (14,000).”

Mining added 7,000 jobs in April, with most of the increase in support activities for mining. Since last October, mining has added 39,000 jobs.

In April, construction employment edged up (14,000), following an increase of 26,000 in March. Over the month, nonresidential building and heavy construction added 9,000 jobs each.

Employment in professional and business services rose by 80,000 in April. Temporary help services continued to add jobs (26,000); employment in this industry has increased by 330,000 since September 2009. Employment also rose over the month in services to buildings and dwellings (23,000) and in computer systems design (7,000).

In April, health care employment grew by 20,000, including a gain of 6,000 in hospitals. Over the past year, health care employment has increased by 244,000.

Employment rose by 45,000 in leisure and hospitality over the month. Much of this increase occurred in accommodation and food services, which added 29,000 jobs. Food services employment has risen by 84,000 over the past 4 months, while accommodation has added 18,000 jobs over the past 3 months.

Federal government employment was up in April, reflecting the hiring of 66,000 temporary workers for the decennial census.

Over the month, employment changed little in wholesale trade, retail trade, information, and financial activities.

Employment in transportation and warehousing fell by 20,000 in April, reflecting a large decline in courier and messenger services.”

Hang in there! The economy is turning around, just not fast enough for most of us.

-Bill at

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