Unemployment Claims Fall Back Under 1 Million—With an Asterisk

Initial claims for unemployment fell under one million last week for just the second time since March, but the change largely reflected a change in methodology by the Labor Department and remain elevated by historical standards.

ADP: August Employment Up by 428,000

Ahead of this morning’s unemployment insurance claims report from the Labor Department and Friday’s employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, ADP, Roseland, N.J., said private-sector employment increased by 428,000 jobs in August.

MBA Chart of the Week: Ratio of Unemployed Workers Per Job Opening

This week’s MBA Chart of the Week uses data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to look at the ratio of the number of unemployed workers to job openings to highlight how the current recession is different than the recession in 2007-2009.

MBA Chart of the Week: Ratio of Unemployed Workers Per Job Opening

This week’s MBA Chart of the Week uses data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to look at the ratio of the number of unemployed workers to job openings to highlight how the current recession is different than the recession in 2007-2009.

MBA Chart of the Week: Monthly Payroll Growth and Unemployment Rate

The economy added a record 4.8 million jobs to nonfarm payrolls in June, bringing the cumulative increase in May and June to one-third of the sharp decreases in March and April. Similarly, the June unemployment rate, at 11.1%, was down 3.6% from its high in April, and labor force participation jumped by 0.7% to 61.5% (1.9% below its pre-coronavirus level in February). However, we are not yet out of the woods.

MBA Chart of the Week: Monthly Payroll Growth and Unemployment Rate

The economy added a record 4.8 million jobs to nonfarm payrolls in June, bringing the cumulative increase in May and June to one-third of the sharp decreases in March and April. Similarly, the June unemployment rate, at 11.1%, was down 3.6% from its high in April, and labor force participation jumped by 0.7% to 61.5% (1.9% below its pre-coronavirus level in February). However, we are not yet out of the woods.

An Upbeat Jobs Report, Followed by a ‘Misclassification Error’

At 8:30 a.m. on Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a surprising May unemployment report: instead of the 8 million job losses expected by economists’ consensus, the report showed a dramatic 2.5 million increase in jobs, and a 1.4 percent dip in the unemployment rate, from 14.7 percent in April to 13.3 percent. But there was a catch–a huge catch.