Sunday, January 6, 2013

Long-term Unemployment Falls as Labor Market Ends 2012 on a Quiet Note

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the U.S. job market ended 2012 on a quiet note. Both the narrow and the broad unemployment rates were the same in December as in November. The economy added 155,000 payroll jobs, almost exactly equal to the month before. A jump of 30,000 in construction jobs suggested that Superstorm Sandy may have had an impact on the numbers, but there was no indication that the labor market was affected either for better or worse by uncertainty surrounding negotiations over the fiscal cliff.

The most significant change was a drop in the percentage of unemployed who had been out of work for 27 weeks or more, from 40 percent to 39.1 percent (see attached slideshow). That is the lowest level since October 2009. Long-term unemployment has been far higher throughout the recent recession and recovery than during earlier post-World War II contractions. >>>Read More

Follow this link to view or download a classroom-ready slideshow with charts of the lastest job market data.

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