Bob Marshall’s BLS Analysis; 9/7/12
August BLS Preface
TBMG News
For those of you who have asked, yes, it is true. I am expanding my training schedule to accommodate new students, both individually and in groups. So, if you want or need to increase your income as a recruiter, all the details are available to you on my website: www.TheMarshallPlan.org or you can reach me at 770-898-5550.
Preface
Over the past months, some of you have corresponded with me about these monthly BLS analyses and asked if it is OK to use them in your presentations. The answer is, of course, yes! That is why I spend the time to write down this information. I would encourage any of you who have that desire to weave any of the information I have printed below into your presentations. I write these analyses for the benefit of our recruitment industry in general and for the members of my distribution list in particular. So use this info as you deem appropriate.
I also write these monthly BLS analyses to not only counterbalance the negative/incorrect press reporting of our general economic state but, more than that, to remind all of my recruitment readers that, at the level we work, there is no unemployment and so we must recruit to find the candidates our client companies so desperately need!
So to my recruiter colleagues, get out there and do what your name implies…RECRUIT. When your client companies have unique and difficult positions to fill, they need you. When they are being picky, they need you. When they are longing for more production from fewer employees, they need you. Go fill those needs. These should be the halcyon days in the recruitment arena!
Finally, always remember that we are not in an HR business, but in a ‘circumventing the time factor in the hiring sequence’ business—and adding value to our client companies
The Beige Book
Here is what Wikipedia says about The Beige Book:
“The Beige Book, more formally called the Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions, is a report published by the United States Federal Reserve Board eight times a year. The report is published in advance of meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee. Each report is a gathering of “anecdotal information on current economic conditions” by each Federal Reserve Bank in its district from “Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and others.”
Below, I have reprinted the introductory paragraphs from the Beige Book summary released on Wednesday, August 29, 2012. For those of you who might be interested, the full report can be viewed at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/beigebook/beigebook201208.htm.
Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District
Prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and based on information collected on or before August 20, 2012. This document summarizes comments received from business and other contacts outside the Federal Reserve and is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials.
Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts suggest economic activity continued to expand gradually in July and early August across most regions and sectors. Six Districts indicated the local economy continued to expand at a modest pace and another three cited moderate growth; among the latter, Chicago noted that the pace of growth had slowed from the prior period. The Philadelphia and Richmond Districts reported slow growth in most sectors and declines in manufacturing, while Boston cited mixed reports from business contacts and some slowdown since the previous report.
Most Districts indicated that retail activity, including auto sales, had increased since the last Beige Book report, although Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, and San Francisco noted the retail improvements were small. Atlanta said that retail growth had slowed, while Philadelphia indicated growth in retail sales was somewhat faster than in the previous report. Boston, New York, Richmond, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and San Francisco recorded strong performance in tourism. Many Districts reported some softening in manufacturing, either a slowdown in the rate of growth or a decline in the level of sales, output, or orders; among those with declining shipments and orders, Philadelphia noted that the rate of decline was tempering.
Districts mentioning nonfinancial services noted increased activity, although at a slowing pace in Boston, softening in New York, and “flattening” in Philadelphia; Kansas City reported that sales of high-tech services declined slightly. Several Districts cited declining demand for staffing services. According to District reports, bankers in New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, and Kansas City saw increases in demand for most loan types in recent months; by contrast, St. Louis, Dallas, and San Francisco indicated that loan demand was mixed, softening, or slightly weaker.
Real estate markets were generally said to be improving. On the residential side, all 12 Districts cited increases in home sales, home prices, or housing construction. Reports on commercial real estate markets were also generally positive, although San Francisco noted stable demand, Boston indicated conditions were not much changed since the last report, and Richmond, Chicago, and St. Louis said commercial real estate conditions were mixed.
District reports indicated that energy and mining activity was generally high and increasing. However, Cleveland noted softening demand for coal, while Minneapolis and Kansas City had some energy sectors up and some down. The Midwest drought has reduced actual and expected farm output, especially cotton, soybean, and/or corn crops in the Chicago, Kansas City, and St. Louis Districts.
Most Districts reported that the selling prices of manufacturing and retail products were largely stable. By exception, several Districts noted concerns about rising agricultural commodity prices, and Richmond mentioned a small uptick in retail prices. Hiring was said to be modest across the Districts, and wage pressures were characterized as contained.
Majority of New Jobs Pay Lower Wages
By Catherine Rampell New York Times
Associated Press
While the majority of jobs lost during the downturn were in the midrange of wages, the majority of those added during the recovery have been low paying, according to a new report from the National Employment Law Project.
The disappearance of midwage, midskill jobs is part of a longer-term trend that some call a hollowing out of the workforce, though it has probably been accelerated by government layoffs.
“The overarching message here is we don’t just have a jobs deficit; we have a ‘good jobs’ deficit,” said Annette Bernhardt, the report’s author and a policy co-director at the National Employment Law Project, a liberal research and advocacy group.
The report looked at 366 occupations tracked by the Labor Department, and clumped them into three groups by wage, with each representing a third of U.S. employment in 2008. The middle third — in fields like construction, manufacturing and information with median hourly wages of $13.84 to $21.13 — accounted for 60 percent of job losses from the beginning of 2008 to early 2010. The job market has turned around since then, but those categories have represented only 22 percent of job growth.
Lower-wage occupations, with median hourly wages of $7.69 to $13.83, accounted for 21 percent of job losses during the retraction. Since employment started expanding again, they have accounted for 58 percent of job growth.
Some of these new, lower-paying jobs are being taken by people entering the labor force. Many, though, are being filled by older workers who lost more lucrative jobs in the recession and were forced to take something to scrape by.
This “polarization” of skills and wages has been documented by David H. Autor, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A recent study found that this polarization has accelerated in the last three recessions — particularly the last one — as financial pressures forced companies to restructure more quickly.
On top of the usual private sector restructuring, state and local governments have been shedding workers since the last recession ended.
“Whenever you look at data like these, there is this tendency to get overwhelmed, that there are these inevitable, big macro forces causing this polarization and we can’t do anything about them. In fact, we can,” said Bernhardt, who advocated providing more funding to the states to stem public sector losses and creating federal infrastructure projects. Both proposals have faced strong resistance from Republicans in Congress.
Small & Mid-sized Companies account for 92.0% of total job growth in August!
Every month, when I read the new ADP National Employment Report*, I am reminded of the job creation impact that small and mid-sized companies have on our economy. This month’s report, covering August 2012 employment, was no exception.
*Re: BLS and ADP; trying to reconcile government reports with private industry reports is a bit of a challenge—especially when Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC, processes it’s info in a different time frame (12th of the month) and pulls from roughly 344,000 business clients representing more than 21,000,000 US employees. So, it’s a little bit like comparing apples with oranges. At the best, the ADP report has a mixed track record at presaging the government’s monthly report. That being said…
On September 6th, ADP reported that employment in the U.S. nonfarm private business sector increased by 201,000 from July to August on a seasonally adjusted basis. This was up by 28,000 from the previous month. The estimated gain from June to July was revised up, from the initial estimate of 163,000, to a revised estimate of 173,000.
Employment in the private, service-providing sector rose 185,000 in August, up from 156,000 in July. Employment in the private, goods-producing sector added 16,000 jobs in August, up from 15,000 in July. Manufacturing employment rose 3,000 this month, following an increase of 6,000 in July.
Construction employment rose for the third consecutive month, adding 10,000 jobs, marking the best reading since March.
The financial services sector added 8,000 jobs from July to August, marking the thirteenth consecutive monthly gain.
“According to this month’s ADP National Employment Report, the U.S. economy added 201,000 jobs in August, the largest increase in five months,” said Carlos Rodriguez, president and CEO of ADP. “The improvement in job creation this month is encouraging and we hope it continues across all sectors of the U.S. economy.”
But here is the real good news for those of you who include small and mid-sized companies in your specialty niches (as I strongly recommend):
In August…
Small business (those with up to 49 employees) payrolls rose +99,000, up from the 73,000 jobs created among small businesses last month.
Medium business (50-499 employees) payrolls rose +86,000, up from 67,000 jobs created in July.
Large business (500+ employees) payrolls increased by +16,000. This is a decrease from +23,000 in July. This is an increase from +12,000 in June. This follows increases of +9,000 in May, +4,000 in April, +22,000 in March, +20,000 in February, +20,000 in January, +37,000 in December and +12,000 in November and follows declines in October of and in September of .
So, the combined small and medium-sized company employment growth of +185,000 (up from 140,000 in July) accounted for a strong 92.0% of the total 201,000 (up from 163,000 in July, 176,000 in June, 133,000 in May and 119,000 in April, but down from 209,000 in March and from 216,000 in February) job growth in August, 2012.
Here are the recent monthly past percentages of combined small and medium-sized company job growth in relation to total job growth:
July 2012 85.9%
June 2012 93.8%
May 2012 93.2%
April 2012 96.6%
March 2012 89.5%
February 2012 90.7%
January 2012 98.2%
December 2011 88.6%
Bottom-line: To my audience of recruiters, always remember this: Our ‘bread and butter’, especially on the contingency side of the house, has historically been, and continues to be, small and medium-sized client companies. Along with the large companies, these companies need to be in your marketing mix!
Job Openings and Structural Unemployment
On August 7th, the BLS reported that there were 3,800,000 job openings on the last business day of June—an increase from the revised 3,700,000 job openings announced for the last business day of May. (The next BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey results for July 2012 are scheduled to be released on September 11th). The 3,800,000 reflects published openings comprised of jobs that are advertised either online or in print format.
As we recruiters know, that 3,800,000 number only represents 20% of the jobs currently available in the marketplace. The other 80% of job openings are unpublished and are filled through networking or word of mouth or by using a RECRUITER. So, those 3,800,000 published job openings now become a total of 19,000,000 published and hidden job orders.
In July there were 12,794,000 unemployed workers. What was the main reason why those job openings were open? Two Words: Structural Unemployment. If we can’t figure out how to educate and/or reeducate those 12,794,000 unemployed, then they will keep reappearing each month as a BLS unemployment statistic—as they have. In the meantime, our recruitment marketplace flourishes!
The Conference Board, on September 5th, released a report that online advertised vacancies, in the U.S. fell by 108,700 in August to approximately 4,684,800. The combined July and August losses of 262,000 bring Help Wanted OnLine (HWOL) basically back in line with the May 2012 level. The Supply/Demand rate stands at 2.7 unemployed for every vacancy. In July, the number of unemployed was 8 million above the number of advertised vacancies, down from 10 million in the fall of 2011.
(The Conference Board’s help wanted online report collects job ad information from more than 1,000 job boards).
“So far, 2012 is shaping up to be a very slow-growth recovery for labor demand,” said June Shelp, Vice President at The Conference Board. “August is a month when we normally expect to see employers gear up for the fall, but this year, labor demand was disappointingly below seasonal expectations.” On the positive side, the U.S. has an average monthly increase of 45,000 and 45 of the 50 States are still showing gains for the year.
The August BLS Analysis
The unemployment rate is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of the US Department of Labor. The rate is found by dividing the number of unemployed by the total civilian labor force. On September 7th, 2012, the BLS published the most recent unemployment rate for August, 2012 of 8.1% (actually it is 8.111 down .143 from 8.254, in July, 2012). The unemployment rate was determined by dividing the unemployed of 12,544,000 (down from the month before by 250,000—since August, 2011 (one year ago), this number has decreased by 1,376,000) by the total civilian labor force of 154,645,000 (down by 368,000 from July, 2012). Since August 2011, our total civilian labor force has increased by 971,000 people.
(The continuing ‘Strange BLS Math’ saga): The BLS continues to increase the total Civilian Working Population—this time up to 243,566,000; up from July by 212,000; up from June by 199,000; up from May by 189,000; up from April by 182,000; up from March by 180,000; up from February by 169,000; up from January by 335,000; and up from December by 2,020,000. And again this month they have slightly decreased the Civilian Labor Force to 154,645,000 (down from July by 368,000). Subtract the second number from the first number and you get 88,921,000 ‘Not in Labor Force’. That is an increase of 2,224,000 since December 2011—8 months ago. In one year’s time, since August 2011, 2,723,000 US workers have vanished! Where did those 2,723,000 potential workers disappear to? That’s approximately 8.7% of the entire US population of 314,324,129. I am assuming they still have to eat and pay their rent. They still need money, don’t they? Because of these new numbers, our Employment Participation Rate—the population 16 years and older working or seeking work—has fallen to 63.5% (2/10ths less that July’s rate) and one-tenth lower than April 2012’s historic low level. This is the lowest Employment Participation Rate recorded since September 1981! Final take on these numbers: Fewer people looking for work will always bring down the unemployment rate).
On August 29th, the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that the “second” estimate of our GDP number for the second quarter of 2012 had changed from 1.5% to 1.7%. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 2.0%
The increase in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, nonresidential fixed investment, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from private inventory investment and from state and local government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.
The deceleration in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected decelerations in PCE, in nonresidential fixed investment, and in residential fixed investment that were partly offset by a smaller decrease in federal government spending, an acceleration in exports, and a smaller decrease in private inventory investment.
Anyway, back to the point I am trying to make. On the surface, these new unemployment rates are scary, but let’s look a little deeper and consider some other numbers.
The unemployment rate includes all types of workers—construction workers, government workers, etc. We recruiters, on the other hand, mainly place management, professional and related types of workers. That unemployment rate in August fell to 4.5% (this rate is down from last month’s 4.8%). Or, you can look at it another way. We usually place people who have college degrees. That unemployment rate in August remained at 4.1% (this rate is the same as the last two month’s 4.1%).
Now stay with me a little longer. This gets better. It’s important to understand (and none of the pundits mention this) that the unemployment rate, for many reasons, will never be 0%, no matter how good the economy is. Without boring you any more than I have already, let me add here that Milton Friedman (the renowned Nobel Prize-winning economist), is famous for the theory of the “natural rate of unemployment” (or the term he preferred, NAIRU, which is the acronym for Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment). Basically, this theory states that full employment presupposes an ‘unavoidable and acceptable’ unemployment rate of somewhere between 4-6% with it. Economists often settle on 5%, although the “New Normal Unemployment Rate” has been suggested to fall at 6.7%.
Nevertheless (if you will allow me to apply a ‘macro’ concept to a ‘micro’ issue), if this rate is applied to our main category of Management, Professional and Related types of potential recruits, and/or our other main category of College-Degreed potential recruits, we find no unemployment! None! Zilch!
THE IMPORTANCE OF GDP
“The economic goal of any nation, as of any individual, is to get the greatest results with the least effort. The whole economic progress of mankind has consisted in getting more production with the same labor…Translated into national terms, this first principle means that our real objective is to maximize production. In doing this, full employment—that is, the absence of involuntary idleness—becomes a necessary by-product. But production is the end, employment merely the means. We cannot continuously have the fullest production without full employment. But we can very easily have full employment without full production.”
—Economics in One Lesson, by Henry Hazlitt, Chapter X, “The Fetish of Full Employment”
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR UNEMPLOYMENT EVER TO BE ZERO
‘Unemployment’ is an emotional ‘trigger’ word. It conjures up negative thoughts. But it is important to realize that, while we want everyone who wants a job to have the opportunity to work, unemployment can never be zero and, in fact, can be disruptive to an economy if it gets too close to zero. Very low unemployment can actually hurt the economy by creating an upward pressure on wages which invariably leads to higher production costs and prices. This can lead to inflation. The lowest the unemployment rate has been in the US was 2.5%. That was in May and June 1953 when the economy overheated due to the Korean War. When this bubble burst, it kicked off the Recession of 1953. A healthy economy will always include some percentage of unemployment.
There are five main sources of unemployment:
1. Cyclical (or demand-deficient) unemployment – This type of unemployment fluctuates with the business cycle. It rises during a recession and falls during the subsequent recovery. Workers who are most affected by this type of unemployment are laid off during a recession when production volumes fall and companies use lay-offs as the easiest way to reduce costs. These workers are usually rehired, some months later, when the economy improves.
2. Frictional unemployment – This comes from the normal turnover in the labor force. This is where new workers are entering the workforce and older workers are retiring and leaving vacancies to be filled by the new workers or those re-entering the workforce. This category includes workers who are between jobs.
3. Structural unemployment – This happens when the skills possessed by the unemployed worker don’t match the requirements of the opening—whether those be in characteristics and skills or in location. This can come from new technology or foreign competition (e.g., foreign outsourcing). This type of unemployment usually lasts longer than frictional unemployment because retraining, and sometimes relocation, is involved. Occasionally jobs in this category can just disappear overseas.
4. Seasonal unemployment – This happens when the workforce is affected by the climate or time of year. Construction workers and agricultural workers aren’t needed as much during the winter season because of the inclement weather. On the other hand, retail workers experience an increase in hiring shortly before, and during, the holiday season, but can be laid off shortly thereafter.
5. Surplus unemployment – This is caused by minimum wage laws and unions. When wages are set at a higher level, unemployment can often result. Why? To keep within the same payroll budget, the company must let go of some workers to pay the remaining workers a higher salary.
Other factors influencing the unemployment rate:
1. Length of unemployment – Some studies indicate that an important factor influencing a workers decision to accept a new job is directly related to the length of the unemployment benefit they are receiving. In early 2009, eligibility for unemployment benefits was extended from 26 weeks to as much as 99 weeks. Studies suggest that this reduces the incentive of the unemployed to seek and accept less desirable jobs.
2. Changes in GDP – Since hiring workers takes time, the improvement in the unemployment rate usually lags behind the improvement in the GDP.
WHERE RECRUITERS PLACE
Now back to the issue at hand, namely the recruiting, and placing, of professionals and those with college degrees.
If you take a look at the past few years of unemployment in the August “management, professional and related” types of worker category, you will find the following rates:
August 2011 4.9%
August 2010 5.1%
August 2009 5.4%
August 2008 3.3%
August 2007 2.6%
August 2006 2.4%
August 2005 2.5%
August 2004 2.9%
August 2003 3.6%
August 2002 3.4%
Here are the rates, during those same time periods, for “college-degreed” workers:
August 2011 4.3%
August 2010 4.6%
August 2009 4.7%
August 2008 2.7%
August 2007 2.0%
August 2006 1.8%
August 2005 2.1%
August 2004 2.7%
August 2003 3.1%
August 2002 2.8%
So, while August’s 2012 rates for these two categories, at 4.5% and 4.1% respectively, are not huge when looking at the big picture, it’s not anything to be very happy about either—especially when we see how well we had it during the 2002-2008 time frame. But regardless, these unemployment numbers usually include a good number of job hoppers, job shoppers and rejects. We, on the other hand, are engaged by our client companies to find those candidates who are happy, well-appreciated, making good money and currently working and we entice them to move for even better opportunities—especially where new technologies are expanding. This will never change. And that is why, no matter the unemployment rate, we still need to market to find the best job orders and we still need to recruit to find the best candidates.
Below are the numbers for the over 25 year olds:
Less that H.S. diploma – Unemployment Rate
12/08 |
10.9% |
1/09 |
2/09 |
3/09 |
4/09 |
5/09 |
6/09 |
7/09 |
8/09 |
9/09 |
10/09 |
11/09 |
12/09 |
12.0% |
12.6% |
13.3% |
14.8% |
15.5% |
15.5% |
15.4% |
15.6% |
15.0% |
15.5% |
15.0% |
15.3% |
1/10 |
2/10 |
3/10 |
4/10 |
5/10 |
6/10 |
7/10 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
11/10 |
12/10 |
15.2% |
15.6% |
14.5% |
14.7% |
15.0% |
14.1% |
13.8% |
14.0% |
15.4% |
15.3% |
15.7% |
15.3% |
1/11 |
2/11 |
3/11 |
4/11 |
5/11 |
6/11 |
7/11 |
8/11 |
9/11 |
10/11 |
11/11 |
12/11 |
14.2% |
13.9% |
13.7% |
14.6% |
14.7% |
14.3% |
15.0% |
14.3% |
14.0% |
13.8% |
13.2% |
13.8% |
1/12 |
2/12 |
3/12 |
4/12 |
5/12 |
6/12 |
7/12 |
8/12 |
13.1% |
12.9% |
12.6% |
12.5% |
13.0% |
12.6% |
12.7% |
12.0% |
H.S. Grad; no college – Unemployment Rate
12/08 |
7.7% |
1/09 |
2/09 |
3/09 |
4/09 |
5/09 |
6/09 |
7/09 |
8/09 |
9/09 |
10/09 |
11/09 |
12/09 |
8.1% |
8.3% |
9.0% |
9.3% |
10.0% |
9.8% |
9.4% |
9.7% |
10.8% |
11.2% |
10.4% |
10.5% |
1/10 |
2/10 |
3/10 |
4/10 |
5/10 |
6/10 |
7/10 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
11/10 |
12/10 |
10.1% |
10.5% |
10.8% |
10.6% |
10.9% |
10.8% |
10.1% |
10.3% |
10.0% |
10.1% |
10.0% |
9.8% |
1/11 |
2/11 |
3/11 |
4/11 |
5/11 |
6/11 |
7/11 |
8/11 |
9/11 |
10/11 |
11/11 |
12/11 |
9.4% |
9.5% |
9.5% |
9.7% |
9.5% |
10.0% |
9.3% |
9.6% |
9.7% |
9.6% |
8.8% |
8.7% |
1/12 |
2/12 |
3/12 |
4/12 |
5/12 |
6/12 |
7/12 |
8/12 |
8.4% |
8.3% |
8.0% |
7.9% |
8.1% |
8.4% |
8.7% |
8.8% |
Some College; or AA/AS – Unemployment Rate
12/08 |
5.6% |
1/09 |
2/09 |
3/09 |
4/09 |
5/09 |
6/09 |
7/09 |
8/09 |
9/09 |
10/09 |
11/09 |
12/09 |
6.2% |
7.0% |
7.2% |
7.4% |
7.7% |
8.0% |
7.9% |
8.2% |
8.5% |
9.0% |
9.0% |
9.0% |
1/10 |
2/10 |
3/10 |
4/10 |
5/10 |
6/10 |
7/10 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
11/10 |
12/10 |
8.5% |
8.0% |
8.2% |
8.3% |
8.3% |
8.2% |
8.3% |
8.7% |
9.1% |
8.5% |
8.7% |
8.1% |
1/11 |
2/11 |
3/11 |
4/11 |
5/11 |
6/11 |
7/11 |
8/11 |
9/11 |
10/11 |
11/11 |
12/11 |
8.0% |
7.8% |
7.4% |
7.5% |
8.0% |
8.4% |
8.3% |
8.2% |
8.4% |
8.3% |
7.6% |
7.7% |
1/12 |
2/12 |
3/12 |
4/12 |
5/12 |
6/12 |
7/12 |
8/12 |
7.2% |
7.3% |
7.5% |
7.6% |
7.9% |
7.5% |
7.1% |
6.6% |
BS/BS + – Unemployment Rate
12/08 |
3.7% |
1/09 |
2/09 |
3/09 |
4/09 |
5/09 |
6/09 |
7/09 |
8/09 |
9/09 |
10/09 |
11/09 |
12/09 |
3.8% |
4.1% |
4.3% |
4.4% |
4.8% |
4.7% |
4.7% |
4.7% |
4.9% |
4.7% |
4.9% |
5.0% |
1/10 |
2/10 |
3/10 |
4/10 |
5/10 |
6/10 |
7/10 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
11/10 |
12/10 |
4.9% |
5.0% |
4.9% |
4.9% |
4.7% |
4.4% |
4.5% |
4.6% |
4.4% |
4.7% |
5.1% |
4.8% |
1/11 |
2/11 |
3/11 |
4/11 |
5/11 |
6/11 |
7/11 |
8/11 |
9/11 |
10/11 |
11/11 |
12/11 |
4.2% |
4.3% |
4.4% |
4.5% |
4.5% |
4.4% |
4.3% |
4.3% |
4.2% |
4.4% |
4.4% |
4.1% |
1/12 |
2/12 |
3/12 |
4/12 |
5/12 |
6/12 |
7/12 |
8/12 |
4.2% |
4.2% |
4.2% |
4.0% |
3.9% |
4.1% |
4.1% |
4.1% |
Management, Professional & Related – Unemployment Rate
12/08 |
3.3% |
1/09 |
2/09 |
3/09 |
4/09 |
5/09 |
6/09 |
7/09 |
8/09 |
9/09 |
10/09 |
11/09 |
12/09 |
4.1% |
3.9% |
4.2% |
4.0% |
4.6% |
5.0% |
5.5% |
5.4% |
5.2% |
4.7% |
4.6% |
4.6% |
1/10 |
2/10 |
3/10 |
4/10 |
5/10 |
6/10 |
7/10 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
11/10 |
12/10 |
5.0% |
4.8% |
4.7% |
4.5% |
4.5% |
4.9% |
5.0% |
5.1% |
4.4% |
4.5% |
4.7% |
4.6% |
1/11 |
2/11 |
3/11 |
4/11 |
5/11 |
6/11 |
7/11 |
8/11 |
9/11 |
10/11 |
11/11 |
12/11 |
4.7% |
4.4% |
4.3% |
4.0% |
4.4% |
4.7% |
5.0% |
4.9% |
4.4% |
4.4% |
4.2% |
4.2% |
1/12 |
2/12 |
3/12 |
4/12 |
5/12 |
6/12 |
7/12 |
8/12 |
4.3% |
4.2% |
4.2% |
3.7% |
4.0% |
4.4% |
4.8% |
4.5% |
Or employed…(,000)
12/08 |
52,548 |
1/09 |
2/09 |
3/09 |
4/09 |
5/09 |
6/09 |
7/09 |
8/09 |
9/09 |
10/09 |
11/09 |
12/09 |
52,358 |
52,196 |
52,345 |
52,597 |
52,256 |
51,776 |
51,810 |
51,724 |
52,186 |
52,981 |
52,263 |
52,131 |
1/10 |
2/10 |
3/10 |
4/10 |
5/10 |
6/10 |
7/10 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
11/10 |
12/10 |
52,159 |
52,324 |
52,163 |
52,355 |
51,839 |
51,414 |
50,974 |
50,879 |
51,757 |
51,818 |
52,263 |
51,704 |
1/11 |
2/11 |
3/11 |
4/11 |
5/11 |
6/11 |
7/11 |
8/11 |
9/11 |
10/11 |
11/11 |
12/11 |
51,866 |
52,557 |
53,243 |
53,216 |
52,778 |
52,120 |
51,662 |
51,997 |
52,665 |
52,864 |
52,787 |
52,808 |
1/12 |
2/12 |
3/12 |
4/12 |
5/12 |
6/12 |
7/12 |
8/12 |
53,152 |
53,208 |
53,771 |
54,055 |
54,156 |
53,846 |
53,165 |
53,696 |
And unemployed…(,000)
12/08 |
1,802 |
1/09 |
2/09 |
3/09 |
4/09 |
5/09 |
6/09 |
7/09 |
8/09 |
9/09 |
10/09 |
11/09 |
12/09 |
2,238 |
2,137 |
2,292 |
2,164 |
2,373 |
2,720 |
3,034 |
2,925 |
2,859 |
2,593 |
2,530 |
2,509 |
1/10 |
2/10 |
3/10 |
4/10 |
5/10 |
6/10 |
7/10 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
11/10 |
12/10 |
2,762 |
2,637 |
2,600 |
2,464 |
2,450 |
2,644 |
2,687 |
2,762 |
2,381 |
2,417 |
2,525 |
2,468 |
1/11 |
2/11 |
3/11 |
4/11 |
5/11 |
6/11 |
7/11 |
8/11 |
9/11 |
10/11 |
11/11 |
12/11 |
2,557 |
2,435 |
2,381 |
2,196 |
2,419 |
2,598 |
2,742 |
2,671 |
2,450 |
2,410 |
2,336 |
2,303 |
1/12 |
2/12 |
3/12 |
4/12 |
5/12 |
6/12 |
7/12 |
8/12 |
2,410 |
2,336 |
2,330 |
2,062 |
2,275 |
2,472 |
2,666 |
2,556 |
For a total Management, Professional & Related workforce of…(,000)
12/08 |
54,350 |
1/09 |
2/09 |
3/09 |
4/09 |
5/09 |
6/09 |
7/09 |
8/09 |
9/09 |
10/09 |
11/09 |
12/09 |
54,596 |
54,333 |
54,637 |
54,761 |
54,629 |
54,496 |
54,844 |
54,649 |
55,045 |
55,574 |
54,793 |
54,640 |
1/10 |
2/10 |
3/10 |
4/10 |
5/10 |
6/10 |
7/10 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
11/10 |
12/10 |
54,921 |
54,961 |
54,763 |
54,819 |
54,289 |
54,058 |
53,661 |
53,641 |
54,138 |
54,235 |
54,788 |
54,172 |
1/11 |
2/11 |
3/11 |
4/11 |
5/11 |
6/11 |
7/11 |
8/11 |
9/11 |
10/11 |
11/11 |
12/11 |
54,423 |
54,992 |
55,624 |
55,412 |
55,197 |
54,718 |
54,404 |
54,668 |
55,115 |
55,274 |
55,123 |
55,111 |
1/12 |
2/12 |
3/12 |
4/12 |
5/12 |
6/12 |
7/12 |
8/12 |
55,562 |
55,544 |
56,101 |
56,117 |
56,431 |
56,318 |
55,831 |
56,252 |
Management, Business and Financial Operations – Unemployment Rate
12/08 |
3.9% |
1/09 |
2/09 |
3/09 |
4/09 |
5/09 |
6/09 |
7/09 |
8/09 |
9/09 |
10/09 |
11/09 |
12/09 |
4.6% |
4.5% |
4.5% |
4.4% |
4.6% |
4.8% |
4.9% |
5.0% |
5.2% |
5.4% |
5.4% |
5.2% |
1/10 |
2/10 |
3/10 |
4/10 |
5/10 |
6/10 |
7/10 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
11/10 |
12/10 |
5.2% |
5.1% |
5.4% |
5.1% |
4.9% |
4.8% |
4.7% |
4.9% |
4.3% |
5.0% |
5.5% |
5.7% |
1/11 |
2/11 |
3/11 |
4/11 |
5/11 |
6/11 |
7/11 |
8/11 |
9/11 |
10/11 |
11/11 |
12/11 |
5.3% |
4.9% |
4.8% |
4.6% |
4.9% |
4.6% |
4.6% |
4.6% |
4.6% |
4.7% |
4.6% |
4.4% |
1/12 |
2/12 |
3/12 |
4/12 |
5/12 |
6/12 |
7/12 |
8/12 |
4.5% |
4.4% |
4.4% |
4.0% |
4.1% |
3.8% |
3.8% |
3.7% |
Professional & Related – Unemployment Rate
12/08 |
2.9% |
1/09 |
2/09 |
3/09 |
4/09 |
5/09 |
6/09 |
7/09 |
8/09 |
9/09 |
10/09 |
11/09 |
12/09 |
3.7% |
3.5% |
3.9% |
3.6% |
4.2% |
5.1% |
6.0% |
5.6% |
5.2% |
4.2% |
4.1% |
4.2% |
1/10 |
2/10 |
3/10 |
4/10 |
5/10 |
6/10 |
7/10 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
11/10 |
12/10 |
4.9% |
4.6% |
4.3% |
4.1% |
4.3% |
5.0% |
5.2% |
5.3% |
4.4% |
4.1% |
4.1% |
3.8% |
1/11 |
2/11 |
3/11 |
4/11 |
5/11 |
6/11 |
7/11 |
8/11 |
9/11 |
10/11 |
11/11 |
12/11 |
4.3% |
4.1% |
3.9% |
3.5% |
4.0% |
4.9% |
5.3% |
5.1% |
4.4% |
4.1% |
4.0% |
4.0% |
1/12 |
2/12 |
3/12 |
4/12 |
5/12 |
6/12 |
7/12 |
8/12 |
4.2% |
4.1% |
4.0% |
3.5% |
4.0% |
4.8% |
5.5% |
5.2% |
Sales & Related – Unemployment Rate
12/08 |
7.0% |
1/09 |
2/09 |
3/09 |
4/09 |
5/09 |
6/09 |
7/09 |
8/09 |
9/09 |
10/09 |
11/09 |
12/09 |
7.7% |
8.4% |
8.9% |
8.6% |
8.9% |
9.1% |
8.3% |
8.7% |
8.9% |
9.5% |
9.1% |
8.9% |
1/10 |
2/10 |
3/10 |
4/10 |
5/10 |
6/10 |
7/10 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
10/10 |
11/10 |
12/10 |
10.1% |
10.2% |
9.7% |
9.2% |
9.6% |
9.4% |
10.1% |
9.0% |
9.4% |
9.1% |
8.8% |
8.3% |
1/11 |
2/11 |
3/11 |
4/11 |
5/11 |
6/11 |
7/11 |
8/11 |
9/11 |
10/11 |
11/11 |
12/11 |
9.3% |
9.0% |
8.5% |
8.5% |
9.4% |
9.7% |
9.4% |
8.6% |
9.4% |
8.2% |
7.8% |
7.7% |
1/12 |
2/12 |
3/12 |
4/12 |
5/12 |
6/12 |
7/12 |
8/12 |
8.2% |
7.9% |
8.1% |
7.6% |
7.9% |
8.4% |
8.3% |
8.6% |