Wreckovery

Solid April jobs report shows economy gaining momentum
Nation’s employers added a bigger-than-expected 244,000 jobs last month, data show

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy added a stronger-than-expected 244,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department said Friday, as employers continued the solid pace of job creation seen in the prior two months.

The number of jobs created last month was well above the 185,000 new jobs that analysts had predicted, the government reported. Private employers created 268,000 jobs — the most since February 2006.

April’s job gains were widespread. Retailers, factories, financial companies, education and health care and even construction companies all added new workers. Federal, state and local governments cut jobs.

The data suggest businesses are confident in the economy despite weak growth earlier this year. Payrolls growth increased sharply in February and March, marking the fastest two-month pace of job creation since before the recession began and heralding a decisive shift in the labor market.

“The trend now is definitely up,” former Federal Reserve governor Larry Meyer told CNBC Friday. “The economy is regaining momentum and we are on the path for above-trend growth. This [number] is much stronger than expected.”

However, the jobs report showed the nation’s unemployment rate rose to 9 percent in April from a two-year low of 8.8 percent seen in the prior month. The increase was the first since November, but was due in part to the fact that more Americans have resumed looking for work.

Reacting to Friday’s jobs numbers, Austan Goolsbee, the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told CNBC he expected the nation’s unemployment rate to fall if job creation continues at its current pace.

A string of downbeat economic data this week — including a sharp slowdown in the vast services sector, a decrease in hiring by private companies in April and an eight-month high for jobless aid applications — had some worried that April’s jobs report could be weaker than expected.

With gas prices spiking, consumers are spending more to fill the tanks, leaving them with less to spend elsewhere. As a result, consumer spending has weakened and many companies are feeling less certain about the economy's health.

"High gas prices are a big headwind for the economy. It's sucking money out of people's wallets," said Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services.

Most analysts agree that the economy has strengthened enough to keep growing this year. And many say the factors that held back growth at the start of the year were most likely temporary. They predict growth will pick up over the rest of the year.

There have been some positive signs. Retailers reported strong April sales, helped by a late Easter. Auto companies reported brisk sales. And factories have expanded production this year at the fastest pace in a quarter-century.

Economists' prediction for a pickup in overall growth is based, however, on gasoline prices stabilizing in the months ahead and then dropping to around $3.50 a gallon or lower near the end of the year.

The national average was $3.99 a gallon on Thursday, according to the AAA.

If gas prices keep rising, consumers are likely to spend less on other goods and services. That could prompt companies to hire fewer workers.

Yeah, ok. What this, and most similar headlines today, fail to mention is that 62,000 of those jobs were created by McDonald's hiring binge last month. Without those 62,000 jobs the hiring last month would have been several thousand BELOW what they were projecting.

And what kind of jobs was McDonald's hiring for? Burger flippers? French Fryers? Some management? A great deal of part time and/or minimum wage.

How does the government or the pollsters or econowonks tout this as good news? How do they expect your more experienced (read: older) U.S. workers to survive and feed their families at minimum wage? If they can even pull down that job, which is much more likely to go to someone younger (like my neighbor's 16 yr old) and less likely to jump ship when something better comes along?

Don't get me wrong, it's terrific that McDonald's did this and is getting some people back to work.

But please don't call this a sign of recovery. It is not. Especially when worker's wages rose an average of only 3 cents an hour especially when gas prices alone are $1.30 higher than last year in many places. Then factor in the groceries and everything else.

The far more telling number here is in the McDonald's article, a true sign of the trouble and depression we're in.

The number 1,000,000. 1,000,000 Americans are so desperate for any work that they applied for 50,000 fast food low wage jobs.

Which means 950,00 were turned away and still seeking a job.

And the rest of us, too. All 15 or 18 or 23 million or whatever the REAL number is these days. People like me who are about to end their second year of making lunches.