http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/07/news/economy/january-jobs-report/
This article discusses job growth and unemployment rates from January 2014. Although there was job growth, it was a lot less than expected. The new report was a "disappointment and weak". Although it was not a success, economists state that it is not a disaster either.
The article also discusses how the unemployment rate is the lowest in 5 years, which was also not as low as expected. This may be because of Americans leaving the work place.
It is interesting how numbers are not the only aspects to the economy. It is more than just unemployment rates, it is also how many are in the work force. It will be interesting to see what economists have to say about the numbers for February.
2 comments:
While rates are gradually getting better, I think many people are still hoping for a sudden change. I think job growth is something that will get better as the unemployment rate continues to drop. Obviously there are closely correlated, but adding jobs isn't the easiest task for policymakers. I found it interesting how critics were disappointed with the latest rates, though as the article claimed, they are the lowest they've been in five years. I think we as an economy are really moving past the recession and growing stronger. Though the rates may not be as great as expected, they will continue to gradually improve.
It is not enough to just look at unemployment rates and determine how the economy is doing. It is indeed important to also consider the number of people who are actually in the workforce. Currently, 63% of the population is in the labor force and it's the lowest percent since the women started joining labor force in 1978. This is partly due to the baby boomers leaving labor force and partly due to people discouraged to get back into job market. With 3.6 million Americans being unemployed for six months or so, there is a huge expense that government is carrying for those people. Moreover, unless those people continue to use or improve their skills, they will eventually fall behind in the job market and will be discouraged to look for jobs, further decreasing the labor force. This may cause unemployment rate to go down, but may not be a good sign for the economy.
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