Dollar General store recruiters at a job fair in Florida in April. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
By Don Lee | More confident employers stepped up job creation in April, expanding
payrolls by 290,000, the most in four years. The jobless rate rose to 9.9 percent as people streamed back into the market looking for work.
The hiring of 66,000 temporary government workers to conduct the census helped overall payroll growth last month. However, private employers — the backbone of the economy — boosted jobs, too. They added a surprisingly strong 231,000 positions last month, also the most since March 2006, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The unemployment rate rose from 9.7 percent in March to 9.9 percent in April, mainly because 805,000 job seekers — perhaps feeling better about their prospects — resumed their searches for work.
The Labor Department’s report indicates that the long-depressed job market is gaining momentum. The gains were far more than the 200,000 jobs that analysts were projecting, and the report will come as a welcome relief to investors and many others who have grown nervous about the ripple effects of the financial turmoil in Greece.
The Labor Department also revised upward the job numbers for March, saying the economy added 230,000 payrolls that month as opposed to 162,000 reported earlier. And the nation added 39,000 jobs in February, instead of shedding 14,000 payrolls.
In April, hiring by the Census Bureau accounted for 66,000 of the new net jobs created as the government took on workers for the 2010 census.
The private sector increased employment by 231,000 jobs last month, up from 174,000 in March. Job growth came in almost every major industry, with manufacturing adding 44,000 jobs, professional and business services growing by 80,000 and leisure and hospitality payrolls up 45,000.
However, with people re-entering the job market in large numbers, the ranks of unemployed rose last month by 255,000 from March to 15.3 million. And those who have been without work for more than six months reached 6.7 million, accounting for nearly 46% of all the unemployed workers.
BREAKING: Unemployment rate jumps to 9.9%! Hey, Barack, your “stimulus” appears to be stimulating in the wrong direction. We are doomed.
“WE are doomed.”
Really is this they way you go through life? How sad.
Most of these are new federal government positions Fuhrer Hussein Obozo added so he wilkl look good!!
Maria, did you read the article? Jobs have been added. The unemployment rate didn’t jump cause people lost their jobs. It jumped because a number of people who had given up looking for a job decided to start looking again. Unemployment numbers only count those who are actively looking, not those who have stopped looking.
Let’s see, in January 2009 when President Obama took office the US economy lost 779,000 jobs. This month we added 290,000 jobs, an improvement of over 1 million jobs per month. You can look at the trend in the jobs graph at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/business/economy/08jobs.html?hp. Tough to see how you can blame the jobs situation on President Obama.
This number is good news on the surface with 231,000 new jobs being created in the private sector. And some of our elected leaders will try to make “political hay” out of these numbers. But historically this recovery compared to past ones is still very feeble. The disturbing thing is that there is still a lot of people out of work. The official unemployment rate rose to 9.9% last month. The ranks of the unemployed actually increased to 255,000 to 15.3 million last month. And those that have been out of work for over 6 months actually rose to 6.7 million or 46% of the actual unemployed workers. And to make matters even worse, with most States broke (Illinois is one of the worst), we are probably going to see a lot of teachers and school staff hitting the unemployment lines in August. I hate to be a prophet of doom, but we really need to see some big hiring numbers in the Private Sector to know that we are actually in a good economic recovery. Unfortunately so far this has not happened.
Het LT Bob, you should ask for a refund on your education program that you took while incarcerated. Spelling words like “will” should have been taught to you in the first grade.
Why is it that anyone who is against Obama has the attention span of a flea and the education of a toddler?
Why is it that anyone who supports Obama has no depth perception, no reading ability and sees only what the man-behind-the-curtain wants them to see?
All this “unicorns and fairy dust” isn’t creating a thriving economy – 66,000 census jobs? So those are gone in a few months. Big Whoop.
My friends and neighbors still don’t have jobs and have no prospects for jobs and there isn’t anything on the horizon for them. And there are 2 MBAs, a PhD and 5 other degrees from Big Ten universities among the 4 of them.
Are people so dense that they fail to read what the UNDERemployment figure now is? IT ROSE!!! If there was true sustained growth, the unemployment rate would jump while the underemployment rate would fall. The fact that both jumped signal that the news is somewhat repugnant and shows that layoffs and suspended job searching continue to outpace hiring.
The unemployment rate rises to 9.9% – A near record high since 1983, and the headline is, “U.S. adds 290K jobs, the most in 4 years.”
Back when the GOP was in the White House,and the unemployment rate was around 4%, the media worked hard to spin bad economic news.
Obviously these jobs are the result of the brilliant economic policies of the Bush administration, just as the recession of 2008 was caused by the bad decisions of the Clinton administration. See, whenever something good happens under a Democrat administration, it’s because of decisions the previous Republican administration made, and whenever anything bad happens under a Republican administration, it’s the fault of the previous Democrat administration. Get it? 9/11 – Clinton’s fault because Bush kept America safe and we were never attacked when he was president.
Data that separates these jobs by class (private sector vs. public sector) would be welcome news. If the jobs “created” are “public” jobs, we are deceiving ourselves because those jobs are supported by us, not the private sector.
Besides the temporary census jobs, staffing is required to manage the HCR exchanges (by state) and student loan processes required as part of HCR reform. While these are jobs, the simple fact remains that these jobs are a drain on the tax base. If you include the layers of bureaucracy and pension payouts, these “permanent” jobs take more out of the system.
In short, I will not be happy with this news until we understand how and where these jobs affect our lives.
It looks like the messiah can declare his depression to be over one more time. At some point, it might be true.
Dear Obama and Congress,
Has your staff told you or showed you the thousands upon thousands of calls and letters in regards to TIER V UNEMPLOYMENT EXTENSIONS for the 3 million who have used 99 weeks and need a lifeline emergency extension? All house and senate are getting them in volume. Democrats and republicans.
But the silence on TIER V is amazing!!!
It seems to be falling upon deaf ears in congress!!
A march on Washington is being planned now.
Lives are in the balance on this!!!
These Americans by no fault of their own
Cannot find work after nearly two years!!!
We are in an economic depression not seen since the 1930’s.
An economic tsunami is coming to every shore in America soon.
Economist will call it a double dip recession that was unexpected. I call it the new depression.
The jobs that were added in March and April were federal census jobs that last only a few weeks so please for your own credibility do not play that card. Also temp jobs.
No real full ti,e jobs they dissapered mamy years and will not be coming back.
This economic crisis was caused by the republicans and democrats as well. They are all to blame!!!
Also the banks wall street and the rich are to blame.
They were to big to fail and we bailed then out instead of the working class and unemployed! shame shame shame.
Please inform your fellow congressmen on both sides this TIER V greater than 99 weeks unemployment extension issue WILL cost them the election.
Not health care or the budget or any other issue.
TIER V unemployment extension will.
do you have hearts?. Pay for this anyway you have to but pass it now. Use the money not spent on the stimulus.
PLease wake your friends in WAshington.
THis is not going away it will get louder and louder until TIER V is passed!!!
This is the worst job market in history!!!!!
The future is now TIER V TIER V TIER V
godbless you and godbless america!!!
These numbers are not correct being released by the government!!
The real unemploynebt rate is aroung 18 -20 %
Unemployment was 25% during the great depression.
Give us time we will get close to that.
Larry Katz, Professor of Economics at Harvard and friend and advisor to Obama stated last Friday at a conference on job creation that if Congress does not extend (past 99) benefits,
it will be catasrophic on the economy and the politicians re-election efforts in November!
I think it’s time to remind them again and again of the consequences of their inaction!
Obama urge Congress to pass a TIER V unemployment extension and stop the suffering of millions of Americans.
15 to 20% of the workforce used to be contract work under 3 months, today that figure is running near 40%. That isnt sustained growth. That is patching by employers expecting a further downturn in business. Much of the jobs created at the moment will be lost when the stimulus runs out. Unless President Training Wheels starts boosting the incentives for companies to hire, at best we will remain flat lined for years to come…
Here you go Ethan…prepare to be happy with the news:
“However, private employers — the backbone of the economy — boosted jobs, too. They added a surprisingly strong 231,000 positions last month, also the most since March 2006, the Labor Department reported Friday.”
Of course, you probably still will not be happy because you’re a conservative and your type is just wired that way.
And as for you KPL, how could “Obama’s Depression” start a full year before he was even elected to office? I’d love to know.
This is good news, although obviously not enough. Unemployment usually rises 6-9 months after GDP drops, and unemployment usually falls 6-9 months after GDP recovers. Such seems to be occurring here.
Naturally our wing-nut friends and Limbaugh Lunatics will try to blame Obama.
Okay, DanT, I feel sorry for the people that have lost their jobs and feel lucky that I still have one (which could change at any time!) But, how can those of us that pay taxes continue to support all the social programs that are now in place? The well will run dry at some time. How do you propose to pay for this? Middle class America will soon be just a memory.
TE – You wrote ‘Why is it that anyone who is against Obama has the attention span of a flea and the education of a toddler?’ That’s easy to answer. They were taught by Teacher’s Union members.
Pass the popcorn. The right-wing, teabagger, bs-spin machine is getting entertaining.
What is it with some of you people? Can’t go a day without name calling? Didn’t you listen to Obama speak the other day saying the name calling needs to stop?
Actually I agree with you ChicagoA12. My brother was a teacher at CPS for almost eleven years. The stories he would tell me were, to say the least, scary. Most teachers are exceptionally smart, patient, and care about the fact that they are providing a basic education to form a foundation for life.
Unfortunately, and especially in Chicago, the teachers are awful. They are looking for a paycheck, nothing more. The teachers union is strong and it is very difficult to get fired from those jobs. It only takes a few bad apples to ruin it for everyone else.
The headline is a game! Unemployment went up! Creating 250K jobs when you lost 450K means a net loss of 200K jobs. Don’t journalists know basic arithmetic. What is the story? A state run media advertisement for an incompetent Congress and President? Journalists have become truth terrorists!
The U6 actual employment number is 17.1%. This is down a few tenths of a percentage. For men over 45 years old, the figure is close to 40% and many employable, highly-educated people MAY NEVER WORK AGAIN in full-time jobs.
This is the legacy of the last 30 years of our political leaders, pick either party. The sooner we stop squabbling over petty name-calling, the better. Also, it’s obvious that it would help a great deal if the general public had any actual, you know, education and intelligence.
Let us all watch Fox entertainment tonight and see if the even mention this. I am still waiting for them to tell us that GM has paid off it’s bailout and is starting to recover even in this environment. Do you think the head of the republiclowns the “drugster” or Beck or Hanitity will praise the Dems plan. I doubt if most of you clowns even know that GM has paid back the loan.
When you have a president who has no clue how the private sector works–except as a den of thieves–this what you get, European style slow growth and entrenched unemployment. When does Obama ever express anything but contempt for private business? Every policy he has has a provision favoring unions. He is choking this economy.
GM paid off the loan? Ha. That was a lie. They used mostly money from another government TARP fund. They did not pay it with operating cash.
While the Left Wing Crazies and Right Wing Fanatics call each other names and blame each other for the bad job market, I would like to suggest to them that this is an American problem and not a Democratic or Republican problem as some of those people claim in their rants. I also suggest that many of you might want to read an article in the CHICAGO TRIBUNE from May 6th by Greg Burns entitled “Grads Face Tough Job Market.” In that article Burns cites a studies by economist Lee McPheters of Arizona State University. McPheters states that during the 8 recessions between 1947 and 1982 it took the job market 20 months on average to fall, hit bottom, then climb back to pre-recession levels. But in the early 1990’s it took 32 months, and in the “Dot-Com Bust” earlier in this decade it took 48 months to recover. According to McPheters this time the process could take 65 months to recover. That means the job market is going to remain very tight for a couple of more years at least. But one interesting thing McPheters makes is that with an aging population we could have a labor shortage down the road. As I stated in my earlier post that although theses numbers are encouraging on the surface this recovery is still very weak by historic standards. And there are a lot of people out of work and cannot find jobs. I am an Executive Recruiter with 25 years experience in the business. This is the worst job market I have ever seen and so far, although this may change, I have seen very little or no signs of any job recovery on my end yet.
Talk about dumb. This guy actually believes GM paid back their loan HAHAHHAHA. Never mind that they paid back the 6 billion by taking out another loan from the government. Never mind that they got something like 53 billion from the tax payers of which 47 billion was converted to stocks now held by US the tax payer. Never mind they are losing money each and every day.
Yes if I have 10,000 loan from my bank and I turn around and take a cash advance from my credit card to pay off that 10k loan you can technically say i paid it off.
***
fair and balaned | May 7, 2010 11:22 AM
Let us all watch Fox entertainment tonight and see if the even mention this. I am still waiting for them to tell us that GM has paid off it’s bailout and is starting to recover even in this environment. Do you think the head of the republiclowns the “drugster” or Beck or Hanitity will praise the Dems plan. I doubt if most of you clowns even know that GM has paid back the loan.
Andy replied to comment from RomanB | May 7, 2010 10:24 AM | Reply
What is it with some of you people? Can’t go a day without name calling? Didn’t you listen to Obama speak the other day saying the name calling needs to stop?
I got one word for you, stright from the Big O’s mouth “teabagger”. Hmmn, would you call that name calling? I would. When he stops (since he is the “LEADER”) I’m sure all the others will stop. But not before then.
Things should be better. The long term unemployment rates went up to 17.1% too. That means that while 290,000 jobs were created, even more were lost.
As I said, things should be much better by now.
“fair and IM-balanced | May 7, 2010 11:22 AM
Let us all watch Fox entertainment tonight and see if the even mention this. I am still waiting for them to tell us that GM has paid off it’s bailout and is starting to recover even in this environment. Do you think the head of the republiclowns the “drugster” or Beck or Hanitity will praise the Dems plan. I doubt if most of you clowns even know that GM has paid back the loan.”
You utter moron; GM has NOT paid back the loan. They used TARP bailout money to pay the loan. In other words, they used bailout money to pay of their other bailout loan.
Dem’s plan? Which one? Because all of them have been proven ineffective to-date.
Clown
“Unemployment numbers only count those who are actively looking, not those who have stopped looking. ”
You are correct, but the total unemployed/underemployed number also jumped from 16.9% to 17.1%. That’s almost 1 in 5 Americans eligible that can’t find work. Obama and the Democrats are drving this country down the crapper.
I love the way the Libs are trying to spin that a higher unemployment rate is good news. So does that mean when unemployment hits 100% it’s the best news ever?
Obama is turning the U.S. into the next Greece. Get ready for it.
“And as for you KPL, how could “Obama’s Depression” start a full year before he was even elected to office? I’d love to know.”
A better term would be Obama turned the Democrat recession into a depression. The Democrats took control of the Senate and House and in turn the purse strings and legislation. Unemployment began to rise and GDP began to shrink about a year after the Democrats took control. Now Obama is driving a stake into the heart of this country.
Tragic. The worst is yet to come.
Just to clarify my last comment, the Democrats took control of the Senate and House in 2006 and that was the beginning of the end.
“The unemployment rate rises to 9.9% – A near record high since 1983, and the headline is, “U.S. adds 290K jobs, the most in 4 years.”
You’re right tom. But this is what all you pubbies need to remember: unemployment hasn’t gotten as high under Obama as it did 3 YEARS DEEP into your idol Reagan’s 1st term. Eat that.
Reagan is dead and we are in the here and now. Eat that!
Btw, since clearly party politics are how you define yourself: How are things going here in our wonderful city and glorious state?
What $75 billion unfunded pension liabilities. Current debt of over $13 billion. Solution? Borrow more and raise taxes and hold breadth.
We have guys killing themselves after being busted for their corruption. Other guys so above the law they are handing out 50-60 k pay raises.
Keep on believing this is about some party. That is just they way they want you DUMB!!!!!!
****
JRCDMC | May 7, 2010 12:40 PM | Reply
“The unemployment rate rises to 9.9% – A near record high since 1983, and the headline is, “U.S. adds 290K jobs, the most in 4 years.”
You’re right tom. But this is what all you pubbies need to remember: unemployment hasn’t gotten as high under Obama as it did 3 YEARS DEEP into your idol Reagan’s 1st term. Eat that.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nearly 40 million Americans received food stamps — the latest in an ever-higher string of record enrollment that dates from December 2008 and the U.S. recession, according to a government update.
Food stamps are the primary federal anti-hunger program, helping poor people buy food. Enrollment is highest during times of economic distress. The jobless rate was 9.9 percent, the government said on Friday.
The Agriculture Department said 39.68 million people, or 1 in 8 Americans, were enrolled for food stamps during February, an increase of 260,000 from January. USDA updated its figures on Wednesday.
“This is the highest share of the U.S. population on SNAP/food stamps,” said the anti-hunger group Food Research and Action Center, using the new name for food stamps, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). “Research suggests that one in three eligible people are not receiving … benefits.”
Enrollment has set a record each month since reaching 31.78 million in December 2008. USDA estimates enrollment will average 40.5 million people this fiscal year, which ends Sept 30, at a cost of up to $59 billion. For fiscal 2011, average enrollment is forecast for 43.3 million people.
I doubt if most of you clowns even know that GM has paid back the loan.
They repaid the loan with more bailout money. The banks were given bailout money to cover the losses from their sub-prime mortgage investments. The banks took the money, made more money off those loans and then repaid the money. What the banks didn’t do is write off the bad mortgages that are still on their books. The collapse of our banking system is inevitable but I guess it will take a community college graduate to get this message across to Obama and his gang of Harvard thieves.
Gee, the Census Bureau says that there are 600,000 new census workers, not 66,000:
“A Note to my 600,000 New Colleagues”
See:
http://blogs.census.gov/2010census/2010/05/a-note-to-my-600000-new-colleagues.html
You would think the Census Bureau would know how many people work there. So it may be that the 66,000 is a typo, or an out-and-out lie.
Andy wrote:
“What is it with some of you people? Can’t go a day without name calling? Didn’t you listen to Obama speak the other day saying the name calling needs to stop?”
————————————————————-Uh Andy, then Obama called Tea Party activists teabggers.
Let’s see – the reporter, Don Lee, writes in the first paragraph that 290,000 jobs were added in April. He then writes IN THE LAST paragraph that 255,000 jobs were lost in April.
Does Don Lee write press releases for the Obama Administration because the spin is making me dizzy.
I suppose ignorance is bliss. But for supporters of President Obama’s economic policies, it must be Nirvana.
For example, consider this mistaken comment:
——————————————————
JRCDMC | May 7, 2010 12:40 PM | Reply
“…But this is what all you pubbies need to remember: unemployment hasn’t gotten as high under Obama as it did 3 YEARS DEEP into your idol Reagan’s 1st term. Eat that.”
——————————————————–
Hard to make a fact sandwich when all you have is baloney.
Here are the facts:
The unemployment rate peaked at 10.8% in November 1982, a year of negative change in our GDP (recession).
For December 1983, it fell to 8.3%. This represents a 23% improvement in one year. (You can see the data at bls.gov)
The important point is that President Obama took office after the recession was already a year old. Unemployment is a lagging indicator. GDP is not.
2010 should be Obama’s 1983, if this administration grows up and starts taking some responsibility.
A 23% improvement from the 10.1% October 2009 peak in unemployment would be 7.8%. And it would need to happen by November of this year. Currently, it’s 9.9%.
Wanna bet this will actually happen?
Looks like pseudo-socialist economic fairy tales don’t require even 8th grade math skills.
66,000 temporary government jobs…which means that in two months these 66,000 will be back in the unemployment line.
When Obama was a Senator, Illinois led the nation in unemployment. Why did you think he would be able to create jobs as a President??? Vote them out.
Irony is relying on government to solve the problems that it created.
We neeed tier v ASAP, right now I lost my apartment and now lining in shelter home until congress and obama sign tier v into law.