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December 4, 2010 in Business
November job numbers disappointing
Private sector hiring slowest since January
WASHINGTON – The nation added only a trickle of jobs in November, far fewer than experts had expected and a reminder that the economy is still recovering only fitfully.
The job market was weak all around: Stores, factories, construction companies and financial firms all cut positions. The unemployment rate nudged closer to double digits again – 9.8 percent, after three straight months at 9.6 percent.
Employers added 39,000 jobs for the month, the Labor Department said Friday. They added 172,000 in October – enough to quality as a hiring spurt in this anemic post-recession economy.
“Just when it was safe to believe the labor market was firming and job growth was coming back, we were reminded that this recovery is proceeding with fits and starts,” said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors.
The report caught economists off guard. They had predicted 150,000 new jobs, based on a raft of recent positive reports that showed busier factories, rising auto sales and a healthy start to the holiday shopping season.
The stock market seemed to take the bad news in stride. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up about 20 points at 11,382, not far from its post-recession high.
The November jobs report may prove to be just a temporary setback because economic recoveries are often bumpy. But for now, hiring is so weak that the economy isn’t creating even enough jobs to keep up with the growth in the work force.
“It will be a long haul back to normalcy,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.
The rate, now at a seven-month high, has exceeded 9 percent for 19 straight months, the longest stretch on record.
“Employers are still cautious about hiring and are testing waters before taking on full-time employees,” said Sung Won Sohn, economist at California State University, Channel Islands.
The jobs picture may actually be brighter than the report suggested because it was more difficult than usual for the government to come up with the November figure. That’s because the previous two Novembers were volatile, and the government uses previous years to make seasonal adjustments in the figures.
Private companies, the backbone of the economy, created only 50,000 jobs for the month. That was down from 160,000 in October and the fewest since January. Private sector hiring has at least grown for 11 straight months.
Yet companies are still not prepared to hire in great numbers. They have the cash to do it – corporations had amassed $1.84 trillion of it as of June 30, a record – but are not yet satisfied that customer demand is really back.
© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Northwest wheat 
hawken on December 04 at 8:50 a.m.
“Private companies, the backbone of the economy, created only 50,000 jobs for the month.”
These are the wealthy, greedy, rich people whom should have their taxes raised in the next 30 days, by NOT continuing the Bush tax cuts on those that make $250k or more. Just as lame duck Pelosi and the liberals have already passed in the House.
Then we need to pump another $800 billion of taxpayer money into the economy, largely by expanding and proping up big government even more as we did with the first $800 Billion.
We can start with the $33 Billion it will cost to extend unemployment benefits, now into 99 weeks as I recall.
Better yet, maybe we should make the unemployment benefits…. PERMANENT. That might work.
These are some of the basic tenants of the failed, Keynesian left economic theory. Tried and failed by Europe, Japan (the lost decade), FDR the Great Depression and now Obama, the Great Recession…. or maybe the second Great Depression? Seems the jury is still out on this fine point.
FDR did the same things and was able to prolong the first Great Depression by 7 yrs.
“UCLA Economists: Government Intervention Prolonged Great Depression”
http://www.mrc.org/bmi/articles/2008/UCLA_Economists_Government_Intervention_Prolonged_Great_Depression.html
Now, If Obama really digs in, I think he might be able to outdo what FDR did.
Anyway, whatever the cost, we should never abandon Keynesian Economics.
Just keep those government checks coming folks.
Then explain to your children and grand children (who will be paying for this), why it is that we have been labeled as
“The Greediest Generation.”
liarsinnews on December 04 at 8:58 a.m.
How about adding corrupt, hawken?
EdubU on December 04 at 10:24 a.m.
Where are the jobs Mr. McConnell and Mr. Boehner??
hawken on December 04 at 11:53 a.m.
What EdubU should be asking is…
Where are the jobs Mr. President, Democrat controlled House, Democrat controlled Senate…. for the last two years.
Give the control of the White House, the House and the Senate to the Republicans and you will see the job market turn on a dime with new hiring coming out of recession…. ie: Reagan, Bush II
Does EdubU understand that Pelosi and the liberal left still control the house…. and the Dems still control the Senate? It’s called “Lame Duck.”
In addition, I wonder if EduBU understands that the liberal left still controls the White house for at least two more years.
Moreover, I am wondering if EduBU understand the power behind the veto pen that is solely owned by the president.
So many questions….
bdr on December 04 at 2:05 p.m.
Those Bush tax cuts are working so well now …???.!
If anyone has some common sense left over from X-mas will they please mail it to Congress 2011.
Just tell them to default on China!
Then free trade will be righted!
Diana on December 04 at 3:36 p.m.
For hawken, who apparently was born the day President Obama took office, please seek some help and understand the last 30 years a little better before you post your dribble. You just look uninformed and silly. Our current economy is the result of 30 years of trickle down, deregulation and privatization efforts. The crash came under the Bush administration and the fix is somwhat more complicated than your childish rants. I’ll give Boehner a couple of months to come up with the jobs before I call him an utter failure.
And bagger, please. No need to post another Fox News recap or talking points.
EdubU on December 05 at 8:43 a.m.
As a general rule I generally don’t respond to right wing wacko’s and one cannot have civil dialogue with them.
The fear mongering and attacks is all that gets posted
on public forum’s like this. They never offer solutions or
answers to direct questions. I didn’t ask who, what, or when.
I asked where and I will ask again: Where are the jobs
Mr McConnell and Mr Boehner?? I haven’t heard an
answer yet, but if one should be given I bet it’s “NO.”