U.S. Added 192,000 Jobs in February; Rate at 8.9%

[spanone]

America’s job engine picked up some steam last month.

The nation’s employers added 192,000 jobs on net in February, after having added just 63,000 jobs the previous month, the Labor Department reported on Friday.

The February number was about what economists had been forecasting.

“Economic recoveries can be like a snowball rolling down a hill, in that it takes time to get some momentum,” said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics. “People hesitate until they feel that the recovery’s durable enough, and then they have a tendency to jump in. Maybe we’re finally getting to that jumping-in moment.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/business/economy/05jobs.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print

[Teaser]

1. This is the worst news ever.

I blame Obama.

[fasttense]

2. Yeah, so why are the only jobs available paying minimum wage with no benefits?

People are taking crappy little jobs because they have given up trying to get the good jobs they lost. It's mere survival not a revival.

[spanone]

4. let's always look on the bleak side????

[Teaser]

5. It's Adolf Pol Pot Obama's fault

.

[Pirate Smile]

7. Don't ever go away.

I love you here. :)

[dmallind]

14. hmm. To check this I just ran a search on Careerbuilder

Searching for one specific professional certification I hold eliminates all nontraditional/rip off jobs.

I found 362 jobs. Again this is a specific certification. If I were actually looking and searched for my job title I get 1686, but then I have to weed through some that would report to, collaborate with or supervise "me".

66 of them - a very valid sample - had salary information. They ranged from a low of 50k to a high of 180k. That makes sense as some people who would be in my department as junior staff have this certification, and also department heads in bigger companies and higher-paying industries are expected to have it too. The average seemed to be a touch under 100k. Minimum wage?

Now of course not all jobs in my field need the certification, and many companies don't care. It's not a mandatory thing in any way - it's just a good way to filter out scam jobs on a search for me. When I search for functional keywords I see 19000+ jobs. Scanning the first few pages shows about a 25% fallout rate for unrelated jobs or generic ads looking for anybody with a pulse to work their ponzi schemes etc. So I can comfortably extrapolate that 75% or over 14000 jobs exist looking for takers in my functional area.

If we further assume that this certification (or rather employers who care about it enough to require it in listings) pay up to 15% higher for it as the governing body certainly likes to claim, then let's be very pessimistic and assume that the salary range for these jobs has a low of 42.5k and high of 153k. Reasonably well paid even at the entry level to quite reasonable executive pay. These numbers fit quite well with my experience in the field - nigh 20 years. Last year I hired a raw beginner (no certification, little experience) for 45k and a more experienced certified but still front-line non-supervisor for the low 60s. I personally am a bit under the top end for open jobs, being not that far into six figures, but then again I work for a division that does less than $100m in revenue and only has three plants. I would very much expect my equivalent at a larger more complex company to make more.

As the details suggest this is a manufacturing search that can cover jobs of all levels. It's not like I am searching for board-certified neurosurgeons or other professional qualifications out of the reach of most people.

Are there enough of these jobs for everyone? Nope. Not even everyone who wants one of them. I'd love more. Running this same search in 2007 typically found 550-660 openings so there is much room to grow still. BUT this is one small microcosm in one field of admin work only useful to manufacturing companies. I use it because I can more easily tell "real" jobs. I am sure engineers and accountants and salespeople and so on through the overhead ranks would find analogous results.

For reference btw for much of 2009 I was out of work and this was my first (far from only!)online job search filter. I used to track it quite closely. I got more hopeful later in that year when the same search started returning more than 200 results, up from the 160 or so average when I started using it for real. So we have about DOUBLE the openings now we had when I needed them, in a field that is only useful to manufacturers and pays between 50-180k a year.

Quasi-anecdotal, but definitely a sign of improvement, and definitely one that shows this improvement is not limited to minimum wage jobs.

[Motown_Johnny]

3. every time you hear "below 9%" on the news

you need to take a drink







"Below 9%" is going to sound a lot better than "near 10%".

[Statistical]

6. Great news. Of course the doom & gloomers won't like that.

My prediction is this thread will sink like a stone.

[PBS Poll-435]

9. The Gloominati is not going to be pleased

"But U-26 is 72%!!!"

[pinqy]

12. They'll be even less pleased...

U-4, U-5, and U-6 all dropped as well.

[Brickbat]

8. Full-time jobs? Good wage jobs? Jobs with benefits?

After seeing that thread a few days ago about how the majority of jobs being cut are jobs with good wages and benefits, and the majority of jobs being created are part-time jobs with poor pay and benefits, I have mixed feelings about such news.

[pinqy]

10. Yes, full time

From the household survey, Table A-9 of the Employment Situation, Full time employment increased by 304,000 and part-time decreased by 23,000.

There's no way to tell what the pay and benefits are for the new jobs, but from the establishment survey (Table B-3) all employee average weekly earnings slightly increased (34 cents), and production worker earnings (Table B-8) increased $1.94, so there's no general downward trend.

[dmallind]

15. That is an especially telling detail doomers will sputter at

In job recoveries, the "tipping point" is when employers are confident enough in the future to hire FT rather than cheaper more flexible temp/PT. Hitherto we have seen middling increases but usually in both categories. Showing substantial FT increases with PT DEcreases means fairly widespread conversion. Good news indeed.

[Statistical]

16. Yup. FT rising and PT falling is a very strong sign, even stronger than overall number.

You also have marginal wage growth. All the signs point towards solid recovery.

[Trey9007]

17. Its a natural progession.....

Historically, part-time hiring occurs first, during an economic recovery. Part-time hiring is considered, by many, as a leading economic indicator (LEI). So you cant expect to have a spike in FT hiring, without first seeing a spike in part-time hiring.

Obama is Presiding over a 'text-book' recovery. Unfortunately, most people don't realize you cant/dont go from the wort depression since The Great Depression, to The Days of Clinton in just 2 or even 4, years. There are multiple steps that must occur in a recovery. Obama is hitting all, the marks.

I can't count how many times Ive heard Obama say "there is no magic wand". But many people just don't get it. Economic recoveries take time, alot of time. The things this President has done, have produced the results required for economic recovery. Im not sure, how you can ask for anything more.

There is still a high number of people looking for work. Expect wages to be lower due to supply and demand. Thats just the way it is. Even Obama cant circumvent this. Nature must take it's course, and unfortunately it's a slow one.

[HereSince1628]

11. Rep govs are working to fix that!

They want no good news on Obama's watch.

[pinto]

13. Kick

:kick:

[Johnny2X2X]

18. Boy

Those Republican's work fast. Haven't even passed one single job creating piece of legislature and they are already creating jobs.