Employment News Jan. 31 - Feb. 4

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News
FRIDAY
Canada Adds 69,200 Jobs, Four Times More Than Forecast
Canada’s job creation in January was more than four times the median forecast, pushing the Canadian dollar to its strongest level since May 2008 and adding to evidence the country’s economic recovery may be accelerating.
Bernanke: More jobs needed for real recovery
In uncommon move, Fed chairman fields questions from financial journalists

THURSDAY
First-time unemployment claims fall
The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits eased more than expected last week, setting the stage for the government's closely-watched jobs report due Friday.
Washington among nation’s best cities in hiring
Jobs are hard to come by in every U.S. city, but you stand a better chance of getting hired if you live in Washington, Dallas or Boston.
Unemployment rate drops in most metro areas
The unemployment rate fell or stayed the same in December in two-thirds of the nation's largest metro areas, fresh evidence that employers are slowly adding jobs.
Productivity up strongly while labor costs drop
The work force was more efficient last year with productivity rising at the fastest pace in eight years. Labor costs fell for a second straight year, something that hasn't happened in nearly five decades.

WEDNESDAY
Private employers added 187,000 jobs in January
ADP figures come ahead of U.S. government’s big monthly jobs report
Job market looks stronger ahead of Friday report
The job market started 2011 on solid footing, according to two separate reports released Wednesday.
On Street, Pay Vaults to Record Altitude
When it comes to paychecks, Wall Street's law of gravity is back in full force: What goes down must come back up.

MONDAY
Jobs are back! But the pay stinks
There are two problems with the jobs recovery to date. Employers haven't added enough jobs. And those they have added aren't particularly good ones.

Economist Comments
WEDNESDAY
Giving Workers a Union Choice
More states consider right-to-work laws.

Blogs
FRIDAY
So this is the new year?
Look almost anywhere in the recent economic data and the signs point to an accelerating recovery. A solid fourth quarter GDP report contained a truly blockbuster increase in real final sales. Manufacturing activity is soaring. Consumer spending is up and the trade deficit is down. Markets are trading at their highest level in over two years. And so economists anxiously awaited the first employment figures for 2011, hoping that in January firms would finally react to better conditions by taking on lots of new help.
Employment Summary and Part Time Workers, Unemployed over 26 Weeks
Here are a few more graphs based on the employment report ...
1.2 Million Americans Quit Seeking Work Since November 2010
The February 2011 Employment Situation report indicates that 228,000 young adults (Age 20-24) found work in January 2011, but that 154,000 older individuals (Age 25+) were no longer counted as being part of the U.S. work force. Meanwhile, teens (Age 16-19) saw a mild improvement, with 43,000 more counted as having jobs in January than in December 2010.
Unemployment by degrees
So if we look at the unemployment rate for high school graduates we see that it's much higher than for college grads—9.4% compared to 4.2%. But both rates have doubled from before the recession, from 4.7% and 2.1%, respectively.

WEDNESDAY
The Educated and the Unemployed
Does more education equal lower unemployment?

MONDAY
Obamacare Does No Favors for the Nation’s Fiscal Outlook
Last week served up another dose of reality for Obamacare supporters.
No Recovery for the American Worker
The present U.S. economic recovery will be difficult to sustain without a meaningful increase in labor incomes, yet scant attention is being paid to how little this recovery is benefiting the average worker.

Reports
FRIDAY
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the January Employment Report
Today’s jobs report is another in the recent string of such monthly reports showing modest job creation. The unemployment rate dropped surprisingly to 9 percent, but it remains very high. While labor market conditions are brighter than two years ago when the economy was hemorrhaging jobs, the job market remains in a deep slump for people who want to work but can’t find jobs. It would not be helped by the drag on both the economy and job creation from House Republican efforts to cut domestic spending immediately.