The May 2016 unemployment report on the surface sounds like great news. The unemployment rate dropped to an astoundingly low 4.7%. This is a -0.3 percentage point drop from last month and a level not seen since November 2007. Yet the statistics which make up the unemployment rate actually shows something terrible. The unemployment rate dropped because 664,000 people dropped out of the labor force with almost half a million no longer counted as unemployed.
The April 2016 unemployment report shows some disturbing developments behind the numbers. While the official unemployment rate did not change and stayed at 5.0%, over half a million dropped out of the labor force during the month and over three hundred thousand are no longer employed. The labor participation rate dropped by 0.2 percentage points as did the civilian participation rate.
The March 2016 unemployment report shows some interesting movements. The official unemployment rate ticked up 0.1 percentage points to 5.0% yet this is actually good news as more people came out of the woodwork and participated in the labor force. The labor force grew by almost 400 thousand and those employed shot up by another 246 thousand.
The February 2016 unemployment report is being reported as great news once again. The official unemployment rate is 4.9%, a rate not seen since February 2008 and no change from January. Overall, this month's CPS does have some great news in it. There were over half a million more employed than the previous month and those not in the labor force declined by over 300 thousand.
The January 2016 unemployment report is being reported as nothing but good news. The official unemployment rate is 4.9%, a rate not seen since February 2008. This is the weird month where annual population adjustments are applied and not backwards adjusted.
The December unemployment report seems like nothing but good news. The official unemployment rate did not change and is 5.0%. The ranks of employed swelled and those not in the labor force shrank. The labor participate rate ticked up a tenth of a percentage point to stand at a still very low 62.6%. Overall, this month's CPS report belies some of the other ominous economic news.
The November unemployment report is another OK type of report. Less people were dropped out of the labor force for the month and the labor participation rate did tick up a tenth of a percentage point from the October 1977 record low. The official unemployment rate did not change and is 5.0%. Overall, this month's report is on the positive side.
The October unemployment report is a pleasant surprise in comparison to recent months. Less people were dropped out of the labor force for the month, a welcome change. The labor participation rate though did not change from the October 1977 record lows. The official unemployment rate did tick down a tenth of a percentage point to 5.0%. Overall, this month's report is a surprise on the positive side.
The September unemployment report is really a disaster. Yet another 579,000 people dropped out of the labor force. The labor participation rate dropped to record lows not seen since October 1977. That's 38 years ago. Even more disturbing is how the unemployment rate is really undermined as a reading on the state of labor. The official unemployment rate did not change at all and remained at 5.1%.
The August unemployment report shows steady as she goes sorts of statistics. Yet, the report is really a mixed bag. The unemployment rate dropped two tenths of a percentage point to be 5.1%. The labor participation rate remained the same, 62.6%, and hasn't changed for three months. Once again over a quarter of a million people dropped out of the labor force.
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