U.S. Economy Adds 146,000 Jobs In November; Unemployment At 7.7 Percent (updated)

[ProSense]

16. I understand that, and

"If all the people who have dropped out of the labor force since 2009 were to re-enter it, i.e., resume looking for work, the national unemployment rate would be above 9.5%. Add the workers who have been forced to accept part-time employment but who would prefer full-time employment and that national rate rises to over 14.5%."

...that was the reason the unemployment rate ticked up in October, as did the participation rate. An increase in the participation rate, while it would likely increase the unemployment rate, is not a bad thing. It's a sign the economy is recovering and people are more confident returning to the job search. The goal is to stimulate job creation enough to mitigate the impact.

Still, that it dropped this month is not good news, but could this be the impact of Sandy?

In the earlier period the employment-population ratio for this group was trending up as women joined the labor force. The ratio has been mostly moving sideways since the early '90s, with ups and downs related to the business cycle.

This ratio should probably move close to 80% as the economy recovers. The ratio declined in November to 75.7% from 76.0% in October. Not good news.

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2012/12/employment-report-more-positives-than.html

This is a relatively positive report coming on the heels of a major storm.