No one is excited about this morning's
BLS employment report, primarily because the labor participation rate continued to drop, which allowed the unemployment rate to dip to
7.3%. And while the BLS estimates that
+169,000 jobs were created in August, it was below expectations set up by yesterday's ADP employment report showing a gain of 176,000 private jobs in August.
It's not that the economy is slowing down, but that job creation has been exceedingly steady, but lower than what most people want to see following the second-largest recession in US history.
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| Job creation as fast as before, but not fast enough |
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| 3 years of extremely steady (narrow band of upper and lower) job creation |
The alternative measurement of labor underutilization number that is frequently cited as the true measure of unemployment -- U6 -- is
13.7%, which is now at its lowest point since December 2008. That's got to be worth something.
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| U6 comparison by presidential terms |
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| Fewer federal jobs now than before Obama took office |
I've figured out why it feels like a jobless recovery, though. The gains in employment haven't been within the crucial 25-54 age group. I'll cover that in a separate post.
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