NC employment November 2013, Fact vs fiction, Unemployment rate drops from 9.5 to 7.4 percent, Jan to Nov 2013, Fewer working in Nov than Jan, Labor force participation rate plummets
“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013
“Over the last six months, of the net job creation, 97 percent of that is part-time work,”…Keith Hall, former BLS chief
“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″
I expect orwellian employment reporting from the Obama controlled US Government. I am less inclined to expect the same from the state of NC.
The unemployment rate fell from 9.5 percent in January to 7.4 percent in November. Yet there were fewer people employed in November than January.
Once again the Greensboro News record has done a fair job of pointing out that much of the decline in the unemployment rate was due to people dropping out of the Labor Force.
From the News Record December 21, 2013.
“North Carolina’s unemployment rate declined sharply in November to its lowest level in more than five years, the state Commerce Department said Friday, but seemingly inconsistent data raise questions about how many new jobs are actually being created.
The jobless rate of 7.4 percent compares to 8 percent in October and 8.9 percent back in July. The state rate is also inching closer to the national rate, which was 7 percent in November.
The department’s Labor and Economic Analysis Division said the number of people employed in North Carolina grew in the past month by just over 20,000 to more than 4.3 million.
But the labor force itself declined by 8,100, attributed in part to the long-term unemployed giving up on looking for work, said Andrew Brod, a senior researcher within the business school at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Over the past 12 months, the labor force has declined by 95,000, while the number of employed has grown by just 6,100, according to division data.
With more detailed industry survey data released showing total nonfarm employment falling by 6,500 positions, Brod said it’s uncertain how much of the drop in the jobless rate is actually due to more hiring.
The unemployment number “looks great, but it’s a continuation of a six-month trend at least in which drops in the unemployment rate are happening mostly because of people leaving the labor force,” Brod said in an interview. “This number looks good, but I take it with a grain of salt.””
Read more:
http://www.news-record.com/news/north_carolina_ap/article_690e003d-6c30-5704-b651-33e0326c7e63.html
Why is the following not being reported?
In January of 2013 there were 4,322,922 people employed.
In November of 2013 there were 4,314,502 people employed.
The labor force participation rate plummeted from 63.4 percent to 61.3 percent in the same period.
http://esesc23.esc.state.nc.us/d4/LausSelection.aspx
This is good news???
Citizen WElls 