The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its employment / unemployment report for February on March 10th 2023.
Employment Up and Unemployment Up?
- Unadjusted Employment rose from 152.836 million to 153.955 million
- Labor Force Participation rose from 62.4% to 62.5%
- Adjusted U-3 rose from 3.4% to 3.6%
- Unadjusted U-3 unchanged at 3.9%
- Unadjusted U-6 fell from 7.4% to 7.3%
According to the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
“Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 311,000 in February, and the unemployment rate edged up to 3.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, retail trade, government, and health care. Employment declined in information and in transportation and warehousing.”
You can read the full BLS report here.
As usual, they are talking about “Seasonally Adjusted Jobs”.
Looking at the Unadjusted Establishment Survey report, we see…
Originally the BLS reported employment of 152.844 million for January, which they adjusted down slightly to 152.836 million.
The current estimate for February is 153.955 million which is up 1.11 million from the original number and up 1.12 million from the revised numbers. According to the BLS, this increase didn’t change the unadjusted U-3 number and actually resulted in an increase in unemployment on a seasonally adjusted basis.
ADP® National Employment Report
According to ADP In collaboration with Stanford Digital Economy Lab, private employment was up from January to February by 242,000.
ADP: Private employers added 242,000 jobs in February
ADP also lists increases by “firm size” and they posted this comment:
- Job gains are solid and wage growth remains elevated. A particular area of weakness is with small establishments, which shed jobs every month since August 2022.
But their December report showed small businesses gaining.
December Changes:
February Changes:
