The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its April 2015 jobs report today:

Employment Situation Summary

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION — APRIL 2015

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 223,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.4 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, health care, and construction. Mining employment continued to decline….

[….]

Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization

U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate) April 2015 5.4%

U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force April 2015 10.8%

[emphasis added]

Jared Bernstein:

Jobs Report: Solid April Follows Weak March; Some Signs of Slower Job Growth; Negative Impact of Strong Dollar Clear in Manufacturing

May 8th, 2015 at 9:25 am

Payrolls rose 223,000 last month, in line with expectations, and the jobless rate ticked down to 5.4%, a seven-year low. March’s already low payroll gain was revised down to only 85,000; combining that with February’s revision takes payrolls down 39,000 over those months. As shown below, the March outlier takes the three-month average down to about 190,000 jobs per month over the past three months, a slower trend of payroll gains then prevailed last year.

The jobless rate ticked down slightly, and for the “right” reasons: more jobs vs. fewer people in the labor force. The closely watched (i.e., by labor market nerds and Fed watchers) labor force participation rate ticked up a tenth to 62.8%. At this point, it’s fair to conclude that the lfpr has stabilized at around 63%, where it’s sat for well over a year now….

Steve Benen:

Job market bounces back, unemployment inches lower

05/08/15 08:44 AM-Updated 05/08/15 09:10 AM

By Steve Benen

[….]

….About a month ago, the jobs report for March 2015 was a bitter disappointment, raising questions about the overall strength of the job market and the sustainability of the recent jobs boom. This morning, many hoped to find out whether it was a one-month fluke or the start of something more alarming.

It’s starting to look like the former is true. The new report from Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in April, which is almost exactly what experts predicted. The overall unemployment rate inched lower to 5.4%, the lowest it’s been since May 2008.

The revisions were a mixed bag. February’s job totals were revised up, from 264,000 to 266,000, while March’s totals turned out to be even worse, dropping from 126,000 to 85,000.

All told, the U.S. has added 2.98 million jobs over the last 12 months. April was the 55th consecutive month of positive job growth – the best stretch since 1939 – and the 62nd consecutive month in which we’ve seen private-sector job growth, which is the longest on record….

[….]

That’s a heck of a lot better than the trends in the Fall of 2008 or a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

The latest unemployment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate)

Seasonally adjusted

Sept. 2012 –  7.8%

Sept. 2011 – 9.0

Not seasonally adjusted

Sept. 2012 –  7.6%

Sept. 2011 – 8.8

[emphasis added]

republicans has a sad.

We’re anxiously awaiting a Tweet from Vicky Hartzler (r), like this one from August 2012:

Vicky Hartzler ‏@VickyHartzler

Yesterday’s unemployment rate came out–8.3% making it now 41 months above 8%. Time to put a job creator in the White House! 9:34 AM – 4 Aug 12

There’s already a job creator in the White House.

Update:

From the White House.

Again, via Twitter (today):

Rep. Vicky Hartzler @RepHartzler

Gallop: Unemployment rose to 9% mid-February. Food stamp use is at all time high. True unemployment rate may be over 15%. 9:26 AM – 22 Feb 12

“….True unemployment rate may be over 15%.”

The unemployment statistic which has been consistently utilized by everyone and is reported in the media as the unemployment rate is the U-3. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has “[a]lternative measures of labor underutilization”, one, the U-6, which includes the “[t]otal unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force”. The U-6 is always a higher number.

The seasonally adjusted U-6 was 16.4% in September 2011 and 15.1% in January 2012.

It’s interesting that Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) is just discovering (or is it spinning?) these standards.

As for Gallup?:

Everyone Is Freaking Out Over A New Survey That Shows Unemployment Surging Again

Joe Weisenthal | Feb. 21, 2012, 3:46 PM

….Has the economy really deteriorated just like that?

Nah, don’t worry.

As The Bonddad Blog pointed out last week, this Gallup data isn’t seasonally adjusted (in fact it says that in the chart right up there).

Since it’s not seasonally adjusted, you have to look at it year over year, and guess what.

And guess what, a year ago Gallup was at 10% and BLS was at 9.0%. So with Gallup now being at 9%, you could surmise that BLS will stand at 8.0%, another solid drop….

[emphasis added]

We’ll find out when the BLS releases the next monthly report.

Meanwhile, Representative Hartzler (r) is either an idiot, or thinks everyone else is, or both.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its March 2011 national employment numbers report this morning:

Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization

U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate)

Seasonally adjusted

Mar. 2010 – 9.7%

Nov. 2010 – 9.8%

Dec. 2010 – 9.4%

Jan. 2011 – 9.0%

Feb. 2011 – 8.9%

Mar. 2011 – 8.8%

U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force

Seasonally adjusted

Mar. 2010 – 16.8%

Nov. 2010 – 17.0%

Dec. 2010 – 16.7%

Jan. 2011 – 16.1%

Feb. 2011 – 15.9%

Mar. 2011 – 15.7%

[emphasis added]

8.8% is a lot better, given dubya’s legacy, but it’s still too high.

A release from the White House:

The Employment Situation in March

Posted by Austan Goolsbee on April 01, 2011 at 09:43 AM EDT

Today’s employment report shows that private sector payrolls increased by 230,000 in March, marking 13 consecutive months of private employment growth. Private sector employers added 1.8 million jobs over that period, including more than half a million jobs in the last three months. The unemployment rate fell for the fourth straight month to 8.8 percent. The full percentage point drop in the unemployment rate over the past four months is the largest such decline since 1984, and, importantly, it has been driven primarily by increased employment, rather than people leaving the labor force.

As long as millions of people are looking for jobs, there is still considerable work to do to replace the jobs lost in the downturn. Nonetheless, the steep decline in the jobless rate and the solid employment growth in recent months are encouraging. The last two months of private job gains have been the strongest in five years. We are seeing signs that the initiatives put in place by this Administration – such as the payroll tax cut and business incentives for investment – are creating the conditions for sustained growth and job creation.   We will continue to work with Congress to find ways to reduce spending, so that we can live within our means and focus on the investments that are most likely to help grow our economy and create jobs – investments in education, infrastructure, and clean energy.

In addition to the increases last month, the estimates of private sector job growth for January (now +94,000) and February (now +240,000) were revised up significantly. Overall payroll employment rose by 216,000 in March. Payroll employment grew in almost every sector. Solid employment increases occurred in professional and business services (+78,000), education and health services (+45,000), leisure and hospitality (+37,000), wholesale and retail trade (+31,800), and manufacturing (+17,000). Local government experienced a decline of 15,000, and has shed jobs in 16 of the past 17 months.

The overall trajectory of the economy has improved dramatically over the past two years, but there will surely be bumps in the road ahead.  The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and employment estimates are subject to substantial revision.  Therefore, as the Administration always stresses, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report.

Austan Goolsbee is Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers

Who could have predicted? From a February 11, 2009 White House conference call with bloggers:

“…and frankly, it’s not rocket science…” (February 12, 2009)

Jared Bernstein: ….Uh, but the, the kind of quantitative metrics you suggested I also think are important. Um, the unemployment rate, uh, is expected in the absence of, uh, this, uh, uh, package to get up into something close to double digits, uh, um, by, uh, um, the, uh, probably, uh, late, uh, uh, later, uh, sometime a, I, I would guess, uh, around, um, late this year, uh, next year in the absence of, of our package. Um, I think, uh, the package should help to reduce the unemployment rate by about a couple of points. So, instead of being nine, nine and half, ten, ten and a half per cent, uh, the unemployment rate, uh, uh, um, may go, uh, oh a point, a point and a half higher than it is right now. It’s about seven and a half, so we could be looking at eight and a half, you know, maybe, maybe that neighborhood instead of, uh, maybe seven and a half by the end of, uh, two thousand and ten kind of back down to where we are now. Uh, if, uh, if the program is, is, successful. Now, uh, you have to be very careful when you give these quantitative metrics because, uh, they’re kind of, uh, uh, if things go as planned and obviously, uh, there’s lots that could happen between now and then. And no economist can, can, can know the future. That’s one of the reasons why our forecasts have large, um, guess, uh, confidence intervals, but large margins of error around them,

And so, uh, I think we should look for unemployment that, that is lower than it would be otherwise. Uh, um, we think we’re gon…to, as I said, create or save, uh, three, four million jobs. We’ll be tracking that closely….

[emphasis added]

What happened? The deficit scolds cut back on the stimulus. Because Wall Street doesn’t give a damn about unemployment?

From 2009:

Now what, Claire? (October 2, 2009)

Remember this, from February?:

Just saw Krugman’s comments on reduction in recov act. Question for him. Would no stimulus act be better than one thats 800 B instead of 900

Paul Krugman:

…What happened was a, a lack of conviction, a lack of, you know, if you’re gonna do something like this you’re gonna have a stimulus program you gotta go and do it…This is the kind of situation where you’re trying to build a bridge across an economic chasm. If you build half a bridge it doesn’t work. You have to do the real thing…

[….]

And to think, if millionaires hadn’t retained their Bush era tax windfall before the 2010 election because Democrats in Congress and the Administration always blink we’d probably have lower unemployment and a lower deficit to boot.

Now what?

Remember this, from February?:

Just saw Krugman’s comments on reduction in recov act. Question for him. Would no stimulus act be better than one thats 800 B instead of 900

Paul Krugman:

…What happened was a, a lack of conviction, a lack of, you know, if you’re gonna do something like this you’re gonna have a stimulus program you gotta go and do it…This is the kind of situation where you’re trying to build a bridge across an economic chasm. If you build half a bridge it doesn’t work. You have to do the real thing…

This morning, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION — SEPTEMBER 2009

Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in September (-263,000), and the unemployment rate (9.8 percent) continued to trend up, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today….

And U-6?:

Table A-12. Alternative measures of labor underutilization (Percent)

U-6 Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers (Seasonaly adjusted)

Sept 2009 17.0

[emphasis added]

That’s one in six.

Take a look at this comparison of the percentages of job loss from peak employment.

Now what?

On Friday April 17th the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary for March 2009:

REGIONAL AND STATE EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT:  MARCH 2009

Regional and state unemployment rates were nearly all higher in March.  Forty-six states recorded over-the-month unemployment rate increases, North Dakota and the District of Columbia registered rate decreases, and 3 states had no change in their rate, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the year, jobless rates were up in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The national unemployment rate rose from 8.1 percent in February to 8.5 percent in March, which was 3.4 percentage points higher than in March 2008…

Missouri employment numbers:

Table C.  States with statistically significant employment changes from February 2009 to March 2009, seasonally adjusted

Missouri

Feb 2009:   2,747,900

March 2009 (preliminary):  2,736,800

Over-the-month change (preliminary): -11,100

Table D.  States with statistically significant employment changes from March 2008 to March 2009, seasonally adjusted

Missouri

March 2008:   2,794,600

March 2009 (preliminary):  2,736,800

Over-the-month change (preliminary): -57,800

At 10:00 a.m. today, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the monthly Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment report:

METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT:  JANUARY 2009

Unemployment rates were higher in January than a year earlier in 371 of the 372 metropolitan areas and unchanged in 1 area, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.  Fourteen areas recorded jobless rates of at least 15.0 per-ent, while 23 areas registered rates below 5.0 percent.  The national unemployment rate in January was 8.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted, up from 5.4 percent a year earlier…

The numbers for Missouri:

LABOR FORCE DATA

NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED

Unemployed

Percent of labor force

Missouri

Jan. 2008 – 5.8%

Dec 2008 – 7.0%

Jan. 2009 – 8.7%

Cape Girardeau-Jackson

Jan. 2008 – 5.0%

Dec 2008 – 5.7%

Jan. 2009 – 6.9%

Columbia

Jan. 2008 – 4.3%

Dec 2008 – 4.6%

Jan. 2009 – 6.0%

Jefferson City

Jan. 2008 – 4.7%

Dec 2008 – 5.7%

Jan. 2009 – 7.3%

Joplin

Jan. 2008 – 4.7%

Dec 2008 – 5.7%

Jan. 2009 – 6.8%

Kansas City

Jan. 2008 – 5.3%

Dec 2008 – 6.5%

Jan. 2009 – 8.2%

St. Joseph

Jan. 2008 – 4.9%

Dec 2008 – 5.9%

Jan. 2009 – 7.8%

St. Louis

Jan. 2008 – 6.3%

Dec 2008 – 7.6%

Jan. 2009 – 9.1%

Springfield

Jan. 2008 – 4.6%

Dec 2008 – 6.2%

Jan. 2009 – 7.6%

[emphasis added]

The increases in unemployment across metropolitan areas of the state caused by this Bush Depression are stunning.