This is my report on the job market for October 2016, as released on November 4, 2016. It is not a political statement. It is simply to report to offer This is my report on the job market for October 2016, as released on November 4, 2016. It is not a political statement. It is simply to report to offer information about the job market in the US.information about the job market in the US.
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Let’s talk about the US jobs report for October, 2016 that was released on November 4th.
The good news is that there were 161,000 new jobs created and that the headline unemployment rate went down to 4.9% from 5%. Even the U6 rate, which includes people who want to work full-time but are only able to find part-time jobs, declined to 9.5%. Private sector jobs increased by 142,000, of which professional services were 43,000, healthcare was 31,000, government, 19,000. There was a decline in manufacturing jobs of 9000. The labor force participation rate is it 62.4%
Generally, on the surface, it seems like a decent report for the US economy post-2008 . . . Actually, it is a typical one. Now, let me go beneath the surface, because, when you start digging into the report, there are some interesting stuff there that doesn’t get reported on the news that most people watch, listen to or read.
Beneath the Surface
Part-time jobs with the biggest component of the growth. Understand, that government revises its report, even on the fly. Part-time jobs deleted increased by 430,000. Full-time jobs went down by 103,000. When we think of the word, “job,” we think of full-time jobs. When the government uses the word, “job,” it defines it is someone who worked for at least one hour during the course of the month.
Thus, it seems like what we are doing is creating an “uber economy,” with most of the jobs being created, being part-time positions.
The GDP seems to have grown at its slowest rate in 8 years. 94 million people are not working. There were 238,000 people who had jobs, but couldn’t go to work, because of Hurricane Matthew in the southeast.
Construction jobs increased by 11,000 jobs. Retail slowed down which was surprising, given the holiday season coming up.
In the last period of time (I think it’s an 8 year period), 1 million new jobs were created that employ women and the government reports that 1 million went to foreign workers. One third of students are unable to make payments on their student loans.
I am mentioning all of this stuff because the rosy picture the government tries to paint isn’t the reality for most of us. People seem to be working 2 or 3 jobs in order to pay their bills or not pay their bills so late. So the Labor Department report becomes a mediocre report when you dig below the surface and adequate one when you stay on the surface.
Ahead
I’ll simply say that for you, as a job hunter, you need to keep your head up and not down. My belief is that we are going to be having a recession, probably next year. It could be the year after. That is because recoveries don’t go on forever. They do eventually come down. According to the government, this recoveries been going on for 8 years which is a long recovery. It is a mediocre one from a jobs and economic perspective but a recovery, nonetheless.
Ask yourself, “How long do you think this will go on?”
My encouragement to you is to make sure that your skills are up to date, that you are doing your networking now and not waiting until the very end where it is too late, you are getting involved, making sure that you are learning what you need to in order to make sure that you are marketable in case, and that you are not just simply focused on your job. You are thinking of herself as the CEO of your own business where you are responsible to the shareholders which are your family and yourself,
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