The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its employment / unemployment report for March on April 3rd.
COVID-19 Shutdowns Send Unemployment Rate Soaring
The BLS commissioner emphasized that even though the numbers are collected mid-month and the massive shutdown had just begun it was already having detrimental effects on the unemployment rate and we can expect worse to come.
- Unadjusted U-3 was Up from 3.8% to 4.5%!
- Adjusted U-3 was Up from 3.5% to 4.4%!
- Unadjusted U-6 was Up from 7.4% to 8.9%!
- Labor Force Participation fell from 63.4% to 62.7%.
- Unadjusted Employment down by approx. 193,000 jobs.
According to the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
“Nonfarm payroll employment declined by 701,000 in March, and the unemployment rate increased to 4.4 percent, reflecting the broad impact on the job market of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and efforts to contain the illness. Employment fell by 459,000 in the leisure and hospitality industry, mainly in food services and drinking places. Notable employment decreases also occurred in health care and social assistance, professional and business services, retail trade, and construction.
It is important to keep in mind that the March survey reference periods for the establishment and household surveys (the pay period or week, respectively, that includes the 12th of the month) predated many business and school closures that occurred in the second half of the month. In addition, data collection for the two surveys was affected by the coronavirus.
Although response rates for both surveys were adversely affected by pandemic-related issues, we still were able to obtain estimates from our two surveys that met BLS standards for accuracy and reliability.”
Of course, he is talking about “Seasonally Adjusted Jobs” from the “Current Population Survey (CPS)”
rather than looking at the results reported by actual companies in their “Current Employment Statistics survey (CES)”
But looking at the CES report we see…
Originally the BLS reported 150.997 million jobs for February and then they added 58,000 jobs to that estimate.
So currently they are saying 151.055 million jobs for February and 150.804 million jobs for March
which is actually a decrease of 193,000 jobs compared to what they originally reported last month. [Read more…] about Coronavirus Skyrockets March Unemployment