Tag: jobs

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Unemployment Inches Up In August As Job Growth Misses Expectations

Unemployment ticked up to 4.4% in August as the economy only added 156,000 jobs, missing the mark of an estimated 180,000 jobs.

Via CNBC:

Economists surveyed by Reuters had been expecting payrolls to grow by 180,000 in August and the unemployment rate to hold steady at 4.3 percent. A broader measure that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons also was unchanged at 8.6 percent.

In addition to missing estimates, previous months’ job totals also were cut. June was revised down from 231,000 to 210,000 while July fell from the initially reported 209,000 to 189,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

Wage growth also was weak for the month, with average hourly earnings up 0.1 percent for an annualized rate of 2.5 percent. The average work week declined by 0.1 hour to 34.4 hours.

Donald Trump likes to tout his “job-creating” ability. But, just for giggles, let’s compare the number of jobs added to the economy this year and last year during the same time period when Barack Obama was prez:

• 1st 8 months of 2016: 1,548,000

• 1st 8 months of 2017: 1,405,000

Now, if math serves me correctly, there were 148,000 more jobs created in the first 8 months of 2016 than 2017.

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Trump Says He “Created” Over 1 Million Jobs But It’s Not True

Donald Trump is fond of saying that he created over a million jobs in the first six months of his presidency.

Such language – “I’ve created over a million jobs since I’m president” – is a departure from most presidents who usually use phrases like “the economy has added X number of jobs” or “American businesses have added X number of jobs.” But when it comes to the Trumpster, it’s all about him.

Economic experts say it’s actually difficult to quantify how much a president can influence the job market.

Gary Burtless of the Brookings Institution says it would be wrong to take Trump’s claim literally because American employers actually create jobs, not the president.

And, the trend of job creation in the U.S. over the past 7 years has not changed trajectory. In fact, the number of jobs added to the economy over the past six months lags behind the same time periods of the past few years.

From the Washington Post:

In the first six months of Trump’s presidency, there have been slightly more than 1 million jobs created, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But Burtless noted there’s been very little change in the trend in employment in the first six months of 2017, compared with the same period in the previous four years.

In fact, the gain in payroll employment in the January-through-July period was a bit slower in 2017 compared with the previous four years, whether measured as an absolute rise in the number of nonfarm payroll jobs or as a percentage of employment in January of the indicated year.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

As you can see in the graphic above, the number of jobs added in the first half of this year is actually less than the same period in Obama’s last four years in office. Ironically, Trump criticized Obama for those very same numbers at the time.

The Washington Post goes on to say that Trump might have some foundation to base his boasts on if he had passed any major economic legislation, but the fact is Trump has little achievement to point to on the legislative front.

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Trump’s Proposed Budget Would Cut 40% From Labor Department Job Training Programs

The Trump administration may be promoting “Made in America” week at the White House, but that theme doesn’t quite jive with the budget proposed by the administration which, if passed, would cut 40% from federal job training programs.

Those programs are vital for helping train American workers for new jobs.

Watch the report below from MSNBC.

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Trump Administration To Add 15,000 Work Visas For Workers Outside The U.S.

Just in time for Donald Trump’s “Made In America” week, the Trump administration has announced an increase of 15,000 work visas for workers from outside the U.S.

From the Chicago Tribune:

The Department of Homeland Security on Monday announced a one-time increase of 15,000 additional visas for low-wage, seasonal workers for the remainder of this fiscal year, a seeming about-face from President Trump’s “Hire American” rhetoric, following heavy lobbying from the fisheries, hospitality and other industries that rely on temporary foreign workers.

The increase represents a 45 percent bump from the number of H-2B visas normally issued for the second half of the fiscal year, said senior Homeland Security officials in a call with reporters Monday.

The visas are for workers taking seasonal jobs in the seafood, tourism and other industries — but not farm laborers.

Trumpers – you got played. President Babyhands promised you all jobs and now he’s allowing 15,000 more immigrants to come into the country for jobs.

And on top of that, Trump’s “Made In America” week also gets the “Irony Award” since the vast majority of Trump products are made outside the U.S.A. Watch the report below.

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Indiana: Carrier A/C Plant Trump “Saved” To Layoff Over 700 Employees

President Trump

Back in December, President-elect Trump boasted as he toured the Carrier air conditioner plant in Indianapolis that he had “saved” more than 700 jobs at the plant.

It turns out the jobs weren’t quite “saved.”

From the New York Daily News:

Carrier was going to lay off 1,400 workers and open a new facility in Mexico where labor is cheaper.

Trump said that 1,100 jobs would stay in Indianapolis because of his actions.

As it turns out, Carrier did agree to employ at least 1,069 people at the Indianapolis plant for the next 10 years in exchange for the $7 million in incentives.

But the majority of the 1,069 positions are engineering and technical workers whose positions weren’t in jeopardy, CNBC said.

The manufacturers whose jobs were on the line in November are still at risk — and 730 of them will get the ax, CNBC reported.

Trump had also taken credit for getting a promise from United Technologies to invest $16 million into the Indianapolis plant.

But that money is actually going toward more automation — which will result in fewer jobs, CNBC noted.

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Nevada Leads The U.S. In Job Creation

Hey, hey, hey – my homestate of Nevada has moved from zero to hero in Gallup’s Job Creation Index.

Nevada led the way as the U.S. showed strong job growth in 2016, scoring highest among all states in Gallup’s 2016 Job Creation Index.

The rise to the top spot completed a six-year climb for Nevada, which ranked last among the states in both 2009 and 2010.

Moving in the other direction, Wyoming scored last among the states for 2016 — eight years after topping Gallup’s first Job Creation Index in 2008.

Each night in its Gallup Daily tracking survey, Gallup asks employed Americans to report on hiring activity at their place of work. Gallup’s Job Creation Index is based on the percentage of workers saying their place of employment is increasing the size of its workforce, minus the percentage saying their place of employment is reducing the size of its workforce.

For the nation overall, the Job Creation Index score has grown each year since 2009, from -1 to +32 in 2016 (43% hiring, 11% letting go).

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Donald Trump Claims Credit For New Sprint Jobs Announced Weeks Before Election

President-elect Donald Trump

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump sought to take credit for “bringing jobs back to America” regarding the telecom company Sprint.

“Because of what’s happening and the spirit and the hope. I was just called by the head people at Sprint and they’re going to be bringing 5,000 jobs back to the United States.”

“I just spoke with the head person, he said because of me they’re doing 5,000 jobs in this country.”

One small problem with that: Sprint announced the jobs investment weeks before Trump became president-elect.

Via ThinkProgress:

Sprint’s parent company, SoftBank, said in October that it would partner with a Saudi sovereign wealth fund to invest about $100 billion in the tech sector. On December 6, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son told Trump the company would use some of these funds to bring 50,000 jobs to the United States. Trump promptly announced as much on Twitter.

SoftBank confirmed to the tech news site Engadget that the 5,000 jobs Trump took credit for on Wednesday are “part of the 50,000 jobs that Masa previously announced.” The company added that the 50,000 jobs “will be a combination of newly created jobs and bringing some existing jobs back to the U.S.”

A big part of this story today is that many major news outlets just ran with headlines giving Trump the credit, when clearly he had nothing to do with the deal.

(via CNN)

(via USA Today)

(via Washington Post)
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U.S. Adds 292,000 New Jobs In December

Good news in newly released jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning:

• American employers added 292,000 jobs in December beating 200,000 estimate

• Unemployment remains at 5% for third straight month

• October and November reports were revised up to include additional 50,000 jobs

• 2015 saw 2.65 million new jobs in the U.S., averaging 221,000 a month. That marks the second-best year for hiring since 1999 (2014 still best with 3.2 million jobs)

• Housing market looking strong with new homes sales up 15% in 2015

• Auto sales hit record high in 2015

• An economist at IHS estimates American household saved an average of $722 in 2015 thanks to lower gas prices

Keep in mind, Donald Trump and other Repubs will tell you we’re going in “the wrong direction…”

#Forward.