Friday, September 19, 2014

Wage Jobs Increase, Labor Force Decreases

The headline item will be that New Mexico led the nation in percentage terms in adding wage jobs between July and August. The 0.6%, or 4,600 job, increase was on a seasonally adjusted basis. Wage jobs increased in 35 states, said the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which released the monthly jobs report today. Over the year from August 2013 to August 2014, again for wage jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis, the increase was even better—a 5,500 job increase to 817,300 wage jobs.
Take away the seasonal adjustment and the wage job report remains decent, at least for New Mexico. Over the August to August year, jobs increased 4,600, or 0.6%, to 814,800. The monthly increase was 7,700 jobs or almost (gasp!) one percent.
The happy news ends.
Go to “employment,” the other measure of the number of people working or looking for work, and the story is different.
All four of the numbers for employment showed declines in August. That is to say, employment in August was lower, or a seasonally adjusted basis, than in July 2014 (-1,500) and in August 2013 (-2,700). The figures also were lower without the seasonal adjustment.
Continuing erosion of the labor force appears to explain much of the change. Fewer people appear to be working or looking for work, which is the definition of the labor force.

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