Popular Economics Weekly
Stanford economist and Former Chief Economic Advisor Ed Lezear said last week on CNBC that job creation still exceeds population growth, which is a sign the US economy continues to expand, but at a slower rate, as shown in the BLS March unemployment report on Friday.
“Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 196,000 in March, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.8 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Notable job gains occurred in health care and in professional and technical services.”February was revised slightly up to 33,000 instead of the 20,000 initial nonfarm payroll total, also an encouraging gain that hints growth in the economy might be picking up again. Hiring increased in most major segments of the economy, most notably health care and white-collar firms. The flush of new jobs kept the unemployment rate near a 50-year low, the Labor Department said.
Health-care and Educational Service providers led the way again, adding 70,000 jobs. Health-care has boosted hiring by almost 400,000 in the past year. Professional and technical firms hired 34,000 workers, restaurants increased staff by 27,000 and construction companies took on 16,000 new workers. A month earlier, builders cut employment by the most in a year and a half during a spell of severe cold and heavy snowfall.
But manufacturers trimmed 6,000 jobs after barely any gain in February. And retailers eliminated 12,000 jobs. The manufacturing losses seem to be coming from uncertainty over the prolonged trade negotiations with multiple countries. Manufacturers are complaining about the rising price of imported parts from tariffs that make their finished products more expensive.
Another sign of a manufacturing activity slowdown was the decline in February Durable Goods Orders reported earlier this week. There was a cooling for aircraft orders, so that durable goods orders fell -1.6 percent with the ex-transportation reading very low at just a 0.1 percent gain.
Orders for core capital goods also fell -0.1 percent (ex-aircraft and autos), which are factory-produced tools, buildings, vehicles, machinery and equipment that increase future growth and productivity. The fact that orders have dropped below 5 percent annually when maintaining more than 6 percent annual growth the past 2 years is a definite sign of slowing activity.
But the 3-month 180,000 payroll hiring average is more than needed to employ the lower number of working-age adults entering the workforce. The workforce participation rate of 60.6 percent is also healthy, and governments have helped by adding 19,000 jobs since January.
MarketWatch reports another plus for economic growth. “Motor vehicle sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17.45 million in March, up from 16.57 million in February, according to data from Autodata. That’s the highest reading in three months and represents a recovery from a downbeat start to the year. The MarketWatch-compiled consensus expectation was for a 16.8 million rate.”What’s not to like about the unemployment report? Employers are paying more, and even willing to retrain workers to fill the skilled-worker void. The housing market has also picked up with record-low interest rates holding. The Mortgage Bankers Association reports refinance applications jumped 39 percent last week.
Harlan Green © 2019
Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen
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