Reply #22: Some analysis of the figs... - Are The Gobs Of Jobs Here Or There?

[althecat]

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0404/S00029.htm
Are The Gobs Of Jobs Here Or There?

by PATRICIA JOHNSON
WOW! U.S. non-farm employment rose by 308,000 for March while January and February 2004 figures were revised (click here) by 159,000 and 46,000, respectively. Now that we’ve heard the oohs and aahs, let’s get down to the looking at the real numbers.

The civilian labor force (Household Data) increased by 179,000 from 146.471 million in February to 146.650 million in March, which is comprised of the following:

-A decrease in employment on the Household Data of (3,000)
-An increase in the number of unemployed persons of 182,000

The number of persons employed in the US, per the Household Data Survey went from 138.301 million in February to 138.298 million in March, which indicates that 3,000 fewer people were employed during the month of March than in the month of February.

The number of unemployed persons, per the Household Data Survey, increased from 8.170 million in February to 8.352 million in March. So, while we’re all cheering about the possible ½ million new jobs created over the past three months, another 182,000 people are out of work.

The reason I used the word possible ½ million new jobs is simple. For some reason the BLS is using preliminary figures for both the month of February 2004 and the month of March 2004.

Let’s take a look at these “preliminary” figures and see if we can determine what’s happening.