Employers add 151K jobs, first gain since May

Don't bother reviewing the headline numbers for deep economic meaning. Skewed collection and calculation methodology makes comparison of today's headline numbers from the distant past (post 1992) completely useless. The direction and acceleration of the trends are still useful in gauging the strength of the economy recovery.

The direction of the trend continues to support an economic recovery. The recovery, however, is losing upward momentum.

Total Nonfarm Payroll Employment (NFP) And YOY Change:


This loss of momentum is revealed by the fact that job creation histogram remains below zero. This suggests that annual job creation (or destruction) has been unable to meet the demands of the labor force. That is, the number of jobs created has been unable to accommodate the demands (size) of the labor pool. Tweaking the size civilian labor force relative to job creation is one way to prevent the household unemployment rate from eclipsing 10%.

Job Creation Histogram (JCH): Net Nonfarm Payrolls Added/(Lost) less Civilian Labor Force Added/(Lost), 12 Month Average:

The economy generated a net gain in jobs for the first time in five months in October, as businesses stepped up their painfully slow pace of hiring.

But the unemployment rate, measured by a separate survey of households, remained stuck at 9.6 percent for the third straight month.

Source: finance.yahoo.com