Data for the Classroom from
Ed Dolan’s Econ Blog http://dolanecon.blogspot.com/ October Data Show Stronger Labor Market as WorkersReturn and Part-time Work Falls Posted Nov 3, 2012 Terms of Use: These slides are made available under Creative Commons License Attribution— Share Alike 3.0 . You are free to use these slides as a resource for your economics classes together with whatever textbook you are using. If you like the slides, you may also want to take a look at my textbook, Introduction to Economics, from BVT Publishers.

Job Growth Stronger in October
with Upward Revisions The latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed an increase of 171,000 payroll jobs in September, the 25th straight month of job growth The August figure was revised up from 142,000 to 192,000 and the September figure was revised up from 114,000 to 148,000 Most of the new jobs were in service industries The private sector produced 184,000 new jobs while the government sector lost 13,000 Posted Nov. 3, 2012 on Ed Dolan’s Econ Blog http://dolanecon.blogspot.com

Unemployment Rate Rises as Workers
Return to Market The unemployment rose to 7.9 percent in October from 7.8 percent in September The unemployment rate is the ratio of unemployed persons to the labor force. The labor force increased by 578,000 for the month. The number of employed workers rose by 410,000 and the number of unemployed workers by 170,000 The unemployment rate is based on a separate survey of households that includes self-employed and farm workers Posted Nov. 3, 2012 on Ed Dolan’s Econ Blog http://dolanecon.blogspot.com

Employment-Population Ratio Improves The employment
to population ratio rose to 58.8 percent in October, its highest level since August 2009 The ratio is affected both by cyclical factors and by long-run trends, especially an aging population The labor force participation rate also rose in October as discouraged workers began to return to the job market Posted Nov. 3, 2012 on Ed Dolan’s Econ Blog http://dolanecon.blogspot.com

Broad vs. Standard Unemployment Rate
The BLS also provides a broader measure of job-market stress, U-6 The numerator of U-6 includes  Unemployed persons  Marginally attached persons who would like to work but are not looking because they think there are no jobs, or for personal reasons  Part-time workers who would prefer full-time work but can’t find it The denominator includes the labor force plus the marginally attached U-6 decreased to 14.6 percent in October Posted Nov. 3, 2012 on Ed Dolan’s Econ Blog http://dolanecon.blogspot.com

Involuntary Part-Time Work The recession
and slow recovery have been characterized by an unusually large number of “involuntary” part-time workers, or those working part time for “economic reasons” in BLS terminology These are workers who would prefer full time work but cannot find it, or must accept short hours A decrease of 296,000 in the number of involuntary part-time workers helped to bring U-6 down in October Posted Nov. 3, 2012 on Ed Dolan’s Econ Blog http://dolanecon.blogspot.com