The April 2013 Jobs Report

Here is the April 2013 employment situation report from the BLS: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

Key Highlights:

- The unemployment rate dropped to 7.5%. Non-farm employers added 165,000 new jobs, beating analysts' predictions.

- The number of unemployed persons remained unchanged at 11.7 million in April.

- The civilian labor force participation rate remained unchanged at 63.3%. In spite of the better-than-expected jobs numbers, this figure is concerning.

- The "not in labor force" count (those who have no job and have stopped looking for work) decrease modestly from 89,967,000 in March to 89,936,000.

- The number of persons employed for part-time economic reasons (those that are considered part-time involuntary workers) increased by 278,000 to 7,900,000.

- Average hourly earnings rose by 4 cent. The 12-month average for hourly earnings have risen at a 1.9% yearly rate.

The good:

The unemployment rate fell and 165,000 jobs were added, beating analysts' predictions. This is the first time in a while that a decrease in the unemployment rate was not a result of people giving up looking for work and leaving the labor force. Additionally, February's and March's numbers were revised upward to 332,000 and 138,000, respectively. These are good signs.

The bad:

The labor force participation rate remains high. This number needs to increase... it's just that simple. Also, the  part-time labor force increased, and that's undesirable. The economy needs to add full-time jobs, not part-time ones, or ones that people are taking simply because they can't find work elsewhere. This, coupled with the decrease in work hours, could be a sign that employers of low-wage workers are making shifts in hiring and employee retention with the upcoming health care bill kicking in full swing next year. Additionally, the economy needs to add 150,000 jobs per month to simply keep up with population growth. While 165,000 beats that number, it's not enough to consider this an expansion. This is slow job growth. It's mediocre or bare minimum at best. We might not be slipping into another recession, but we surely not pulling out of one quickly.

The ugly:

My prediction might seem redundant, but the press will champion this. Get ready for the tidal wave of fawning coming from the press claiming how wonderful it is. Live I've said, the numbers are decent... they certainly aren't terrible, but they're nothing to write home about, either.

What do YOU think? Please share your thoughts below.

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