December 2021 Unemployment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
- Unadjusted U-3 was Down from 3.9% to 3.7%
- Adjusted U-3 was Down from 4.2% to 3.9%
- Unadjusted U-6 was Down from 7.4% to 7.2%
- Labor Force Participation Unchanged at 61.9%
- Unadjusted Employment rose from 150.098 million to 150.170 million
Job growth in December failed to meet expectations for the 2nd month in a row. Economists had predicted more than 400,000 jobs would be added in the month. Instead, according to the BLS, the U.S. economy added less than half that amount.
On a positive note, Seasonally adjusted unemployment fell from 4.2% to 3.9%.
According to the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
“Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 199,000 in December, and the unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 3.9 percent. Employment continued to trend up in leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, in manufacturing, in construction, and in transportation and warehousing. In 2021, job growth averaged 537,000 per month. Employment has increased by 18.8 million since April 2020 but is down by 3.6 million, or 2.3 percent, from its level before the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in February 2020.”
As usual, they are 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…
Initially, the BLS reported 150.004 million for November, which they adjusted to 150.098 million. For December, they are reporting 150.170 million.
This is an increase of 166,000 jobs based on their original estimates or an increase of 72,000 based on their updated numbers.
Although Employment is 6.568 million Above Year-Ago Levels…
Employment numbers are still about 800,000 short of February 2020 numbers, but the Civilian Population has increased by about 2.6 MILLION people since then.
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