Weekly Initial Claims Decline Slightly (June 28, 2012)

First time unemployment jobless claims decrease by 6,000...  four-week moving average # of claims also decreases slightly by 750.

Extended Benefits claims decline by another 46% as fewer states are eligible for Extended Benefits.

Percent of Unemployed People Receiving Benefits remains stable at 46.3%.

Job Loss & Growth Since 2008 w/ Graph HERE! 

All Jobs Reports & Numbers Indexed HERE! (September, all 2012 & 2011)

First time unemployment claims decreased by 6,000 over those reported last week.  Last week's claims were revised upwards by 5,000.  The four-week moving average decreased 750.  As a whole, claims have been stable this spring, but they have tended up very slightly over the past three months, with slight upwards revisions in the last six of seven weeks.  Four week averages have increased from 383,000 in April to 387,000 now in June.

As usual, to put this into perspective, check out the red line on the chart below to see where jobless claims are now, in spring of 2012, compared to spring of the past three years.

From the current report:

In the week ending June 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 386,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 392,000. The 4-week moving average was 386,750, a decrease of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 387,500.

The initial claims as announced last week were 387,000, so the claims from that week were revised upwards by 5,000. 

The chart above is one of the BEST charts for understanding and observing changes in the weekly initial claims numbers over time.  This year (red-2012) and the past three years (blue- 2009, green- 2010 and black- 2011) are marked in different colors.  You can see that, as a trend, first time claims for unemployment have gone down SIGNIFICANTLY from one year to the next, even though there are variations within the year.  


Be aware that:  1.  These are first time claims, so people who have continued to receive benefits or who are losing any unemployment benefits would not be counted in these numbers.  2.  They are seasonally adjusted, so most variations caused by weather or holidays are already included in these numbers.  3.  As these are weekly numbers, they are more volatile than the monthly numbers.

Current Springtime Initial Claims Lowest Since 2008; Historical Claims Data Below

As a whole, the current numbers of initial claims continue to be the lowest springtime initial claims numbers since 2008, as can be seen on the chart above.  

Average initial claims for this time of year for earlier years include:

• June 2000:  293,000
• June 2001:  398,000
• June 2002:  388,000 
• June 2003:  414,000
• June 2004:  349,000
• June 2005:  326,000 
• June 2006:  305,000
• June 2007:  315,000
• June 2008:  378,500
  
  June 2012 4-week moving average:  386,750 

Continuing regular state claims, from people who are continuing to claim unemployment through the initial 20 to 26 week regular unemployment program, have been very stable in the last two weeks in both adjusted and unadjusted numbers.  However, in the week ending June 9th, the unadjusted numbers increased slightly to 3,094,274 from 3,082,965.   In adjusted numbers, for the week ending June 16th, continuing regular state claims declined to 3,296,000.  As a whole, however, continuing regular claims continue to decline despite some individual weekly increases.  (They were 3,720,000 a year ago.) 

Total number of people receiving unemployment insurance increases slightly from 45.8% to 46.3% of officially unemployed.  

The weekly report also tells us the total number of people who are receiving unemployment benefits.  For the week ending June 16th, 5,890,091 people are receiving unemployment benefits under one of the programs that are available (regular state, extended benefits, federal extended unemployment compensation, or a few other smaller programs).  This compares with 12,720,000 people who are unemployed according to the monthly May unemployment situation report which was released three weeks ago.  Those numbers, showing that 46.3% of the officially unemployed are receiving benefits, should make it clear that people do NOT need to be receiving unemployment insurance to be counted among the unemployed.

Extended Benefits Expire; 46% Fewer People Receive Extended Benefits

As we've been mentioning, many states have now "triggered" off of Extended Benefits.  There are now only 6 states plus the District of Columbia for which Extended Benefits are still available.  Those states include:  New York, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Idaho, Nevada, and New Jersey.  All other states have triggered off of Extended Benefits.

As of the week ending May 26th, 135,502 people were still receiving Extended Benefits.  However, for the week ending June 2nd, this declined to 110,864, a large reduction as 24,638 people stopped receiving Extended Benefits.  This is a reduction of 18%.  For the week ending June 9th, this declined even further, to 59,538, an additional decrease of 46%.  In late April, 350,579 people were receiving Extended Benefits.  In two months, 83% of people who were receiving Extended Benefits are no longer receiving such benefits.  We do not know how many of these 290,000 people found jobs or how many have another source of income. 

So, while a decrease in the number of people filing for initial claims is a good thing and indicates that fewer people are being laid off, a decrease in the total number of people getting unemployment insurance may only show that fewer people are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits.

Any questions or confusion, please leave a comment or email me!

How Many Jobs Created in 2012 to date? (May update)

How many jobs were created in all of 2012 to date, from December 2011 through May 2012?   823,000

How many private-sector jobs have been created in 2012?   847,000

How many more people working in all of 2012 to date, from December 2011 through May 2012?  1,497,000 

Have jobs been lost in 2012?  NO.  I'll repeat that:
NO jobs have been lost (net) in 2012.

Latest jobs and unemployment reports (June 2012, all 2012 and 2011) HERE!

ADP Jobs Report for June HERE!

How Many Jobs Have Been Created in the Last Two Years? HERE

  

Other Latest (May, 2011, and all 2012) reports HERE
          

Jobs Created Month by Month (Private & Govt) HERE

• In seasonally adjusted numbers, 823,000 jobs have been CREATED in 2012.  That's 165,000 jobs ADDED per month in 2012.
• In "raw" unadjusted numbers, 762,000 jobs have been CREATED in 2012.  That's 152,400 jobs ADDED per month in 2012.
• In terms of total jobs and private-sector jobs, we have ONLY JOB GAINS in 2012.  

How many private-sector jobs were created in all of 2012, from December 2011 through May 2012?  Have private-sector jobs been created or  lost in 2012?

Weekly Initial Claims Stable (June 21, 2012)

First time unemployment jobless claims decrease by 2,000... but the four-week moving average # of claims increases by 3,500.

Extended Benefits claims decline by another 18% as fewer states are eligible for Extended Benefits.

Percent of Unemployed People Receiving Benefits remains at 45.8%.

All Jobs Reports & Numbers Indexed HERE! (May, all 2012 & 2011)

First time unemployment claims decreased by 2,000 over those reported last week.  Last week's claims were revised upwards by 3,000.  The four-week moving average increased by 3,500.  As a whole, claims have been stable this spring, but they have tended up over the past six weeks, with slight upwards revisions in the last six of seven weeks.

As usual, to put this into perspective, check out the red line on the chart below to see where jobless claims are now, in spring of 2012, compared to spring of the past three years.

From the current report:

In the week ending June 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 387,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 389,000. The 4-week moving average was 386,250, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 382,750.

The initial claims as announced last week were 386,000, so the claims from that week were revised upwards by 3,000. 

The chart above is one of the BEST charts for understanding and observing changes in the weekly initial claims numbers over time.  This year (red-2012) and the past three years (blue- 2009, green- 2010 and black- 2011) are marked in different colors.  You can see that, as a trend, first time claims for unemployment have gone down SIGNIFICANTLY from one year to the next, even though there are variations within the year.  


Be aware that:  1.  These are first time claims, so people who have continued to receive benefits or who are losing any unemployment benefits would not be counted in these numbers.  2.  They are seasonally adjusted, so most variations caused by weather or holidays are already included in these numbers.  3.  As these are weekly numbers, they are more volatile than the monthly numbers.

Current Springtime Initial Claims Lowest Since 2008; Historical Claims Data Below

As a whole, the current numbers of initial claims continue to be the lowest springtime initial claims numbers since 2008, as can be seen on the chart above.  

Average initial claims for this time of year for earlier years include:

• June 2000:  293,000
• June 2001:  398,000
• June 2002:  388,000 
• June 2003:  414,000
• June 2004:  349,000
• June 2005:  326,000 
• June 2006:  305,000
• June 2007:  315,000
• June 2008:  377,000
  
  June 2012 4-week moving average:  386,250 

Continuing regular state claims, from people who are continuing to claim unemployment through the initial 20 to 26 week regular unemployment program, have been very stable in the last two weeks in both adjusted and unadjusted numbers.  However, in the week ending June 2nd, the unadjusted numbers increased slightly to 3,082,965 from 3,056,496.   In adjusted numbers, for the week ending June 2nd, continuing regular state claims remained exactly the same at 3,299,000.  As a whole, however, continuing regular claims continue to decline despite some individual weekly increases.  (They were 3,726,000 a year ago.) 

Total number of people receiving unemployment insurance stays the same at 45.8% of officially unemployed.  

The weekly report also tells us the total number of people who are receiving unemployment benefits.  For the week ending June 2nd, 5,826,164 people are receiving unemployment benefits under one of the programs that are available (regular state, extended benefits, federal extended unemployment compensation, or a few other smaller programs).  This compares with 12,720,000 people who are unemployed according to the monthly May unemployment situation report which was released three weeks ago.  Those numbers, showing that 45.8% of the officially unemployed are receiving benefits, should make it clear that people do NOT need to be receiving unemployment insurance to be counted among the unemployed.

Extended Benefits Expire; 46% Fewer People Receive Extended Benefits

As we've been mentioning, many states have now "triggered" off of Extended Benefits.  Extended Benefits for those states, including California, Illinois, Florida, and several others, ended the weekend of May 12th.  There are now only 6 states plus the District of Columbia for which Extended Benefits are still available.  Those states include:  New York, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Idaho, Nevada, and New Jersey.  All other states have triggered off of Extended Benefits.

On the current weekly report, as of the week ending May 26th, 135,502 people were still receiving Extended Benefits.  However, for the week ending June 2nd, this declined to 110,864, a large reduction as 24,638 people stopped receiving Extended Benefits.  This is a reduction of 18%.  I mentioned in the past month that we could expect that the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits would decline to below 6,000,000 as Extended Benefits expire, which did happen two weeks ago.  In late April, 350,579 people were receiving Extended Benefits.  In a little over a month, two/thirds of the people on Extended Benefits are no longer receiving such benefits.  We do not know how many of these 240,000 people found jobs or how many have another source of income. 

So, while a decrease in the number of people filing for initial claims is a good thing and indicates that fewer people are being laid off, a decrease in the total number of people getting unemployment insurance may only show that fewer people are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits.

Any questions or confusion, please leave a comment or email me!

What Was the Maximum Number Jobs per Month Created by Obama?

What Was the Maximun Number of Jobs per Month Created by Obama?

The maximum number of jobs created per month under Obama to date was 275,000 total jobs created in January 2012.  This total includes both private sector and government jobs.  

Seasonally adjusted jobs totaled 132,186,000 in December 2011.  In January 2012, that number increased to 132,461,000, a difference of 275,000 jobs.

What Was the Maximum Number of Private Jobs per Month Created by Obama?

The maximum number of private jobs created per month under Obama to date was 277,000 total jobs created in January 2012.  

Seasonally adjusted private sector jobs totaled 110,193,000 in December 2011.  In January 2012, that number increased to 110,470,000, a difference of 277,000 jobs.

What Was the Maximum Number of Government Jobs per Month Created by Obama?

The maximum number of private jobs created per month under Obama to date was 432,000 government jobs created in May 2010 with the hiring of the majority of Census 2010 workers.  

Seasonally adjusted government jobs totaled 22,565,000 in April 2010.  In May 2010, that number increased to 22,997,000, a difference of 432,000 jobs.  (As these were temporary Census jobs, it should be noted that all of them were terminated by approximately September 2010.)

What's this Seasonal adjustment stuff?  Click the link and find out!

Other Jobs Numbers and Info (posted in late May and June):

• What Was the Unemployment Rate When Obama Took Office? (May 2012 update w/graph)
• How Many Jobs Has Obama Created or Lost? (May 2012 update)
• May Jobs Numbers: Terrible? Or Bad Seasonal Adjustments?
• How Many Jobs Created or Lost in May 2012?
• Private & Govt Jobs Month by Month 2011 & 2012 (May Updates)
• Private Sector Job Loss/Growth Since 2008 (w/graph).
• Romney: Non Job Creator?
• Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims June 7th, 2012 (w/graph)
• 800,000 New Private Sector Jobs in May?
• Job Growth & Loss Year by Year Since 1999

Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey: April 2012

3.66 jobseekers for every job in April 2012.

Summary for April 2012:

Fewer separations; but hiring and job openings down slightly over last two months peaks, layoffs up slightly.  A net increase of 89,000 hires over separations for the month of April 2012.  A total of 799,000 new hires over separations for the year of 2012 to date.


But Jobseekers to Jobs rise to 3.66 Jobseekers for every job after reaching a post-recession low of 3.39 last month. 

This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the JOLTS report (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) for the month of April 2012.  This report always runs a month behind the regular monthly Employment Situation Report.

While this month shows a drop in job openings and hires, both of these numbers are higher than they were a year ago, and we continue to have more hires than we have layoffs and separations.

3.7 Jobseekers for Every Job:  How does that get computed?

However, we still have 3.66 jobseekers for every job opening out there.  (This peaked at approximately 6.7 jobseekers for every worker back in summer of 2009.)  The 3.66 is an improvement from 2011, last year, in which the number was over 4.0 for every month except December, but, if every job opening were filled tomorrow, we'd still have over 9,000,000 people out of work. 

The average number of job openings this year has been as high as that in early 2008, and it has been trending upwards, despite some dips and trips.  It now stands at 3,400,000.  (We had over 4 million job openings each month during 2006 and throughout most of 2007.) 

The monthly employment report for April  2012, showed 12,500,000 people officially unemployed.  Divide that by the number of job openings on the latest JOLTS report (for April 2012), which is 3,416,000.  Voila.. we have a jobseekers-to-jobs ratio of 3.66.       

Why is it good that people quit?  

The number of people quitting has climbed over the past half year and now equals the rate of late 2008.  That  either means that people already have a new job lined up or they are confident that they will soon get one.  That's always a good thing for the labor market as a whole.

The Numbers:

• Job Openings:  3,416,000 (vs. 3,741,000 in March 2012)
• Hires:  4,175,000 (vs. 4,335,000 in March 2012)
• Total Separations (includes Layoffs, Discharges, Quits and "other"):  4,086,000 (vs. 4, 187,000 in March 2012)
• Layoffs:  1,720,000 (vs. 1,652,000 in March 2012)
• Quits:  1,955,000 and 50.7% of "separations" (vs. 1,926,000 and 51.8% of separations in November)  Remember that quits are VOLUNTARY separations.  The higher the percentage of quits to total separations, the better for the jobseeker as a whole.  This number was at a recent high in the 58% area in early 2007, and it was at a low of about 37% in early 2009, as people hung on to their jobs and either did not quit or could not find better jobs.

Best Regions for Job Openings and Hiring:

• The Northeast and the South for job openings.
• The South and the West for hiring.
• The South and the Midwest have the most "separations".
• The South has the most "quits".
• The South and the West have the most layoffs.

Best Industries for Job Openings and Hiring:

• Job openings:  Mining and logging and construction job openings are  lower than last year.  Manufacturing, nondurable goods, openings are higher than last year.  Business and professional services, health care and social assistance (private), and leisure and hospitality have much higher rates of job openings than last year.   
• Hires:  Mining and logging, construction, private educational services have lower hiring rates than last year.  "Transportation, warehousing, and utilities", financial activities, especially "real estate, rental, and leasing", and "arts, entertainment, and recreation" have experienced decent increases in hiring activity over the past year.  

Most separations?

• Most separations over the past year:  Mining and logging,  financial activities, especially "real estate, rental, and leasing", and "arts, entertainment, and recreation" have experienced increases in separation  activity over the past year.   Less separations over the past year: Construction.
• Fewest new layoffs:  Construction.  Most new layoffs:  "Arts, entertainment, and recreation". 

Read the whole report HERE.

How Many Jobs Are Needed Per Month To Accommodate the Population Growth?

How Many New Jobs Do We Need Per Month to Accommodate Lost Jobs and New People in the country?

We Need About 65,500 Jobs Per Month to Accommodate Population Growth.  Details HERE!

All Employment & Jobs Reports (Updated with September 2012 numbers)

Maximum Jobs Created Month Obama?

What is the maximum jobs created per month under Obama?

Under construction... please check back!

In the meantime, please check out these published employment/jobs reports:

All Employment & Jobs Reports (Updated for May 2012)

Burning Down The House...

Job loss and creation and burning down the house:

Smoking. Hot.On fire.

(Updated September 30, 2016:  I first wrote this article in 2012 as an answer to the many Republicans who were insisting that the recovery under Obama was not as robust as they thought it should be.  Four years  and 10 million MORE private sector jobs later, we still have people complaining that the recovery hasn't been as robust as it should have been.. and blaming Obama and the Democrats.  Well, my description is as apt today as it was 4 years ago.)

Can be good things, right? Perhaps, if one is talking about women, men, having a good time, an economy or a business that is taking off.

But "fire" can also be something not good at all...  a house burning out of control.  

 In that situation, you call the Fire Department and you make sure you give them room to put out the fire.  Before any rebuilding can take place, the fire has to be under control, then out, then it must cool down, then debris needs to be cleared away.  That all takes time.  And you don't blame the Fire Department for the fire.  (I don't, do you?)

But this is what the Republicans are trying to do:

Blame the Democrats, particularly President Obama, for the fire.  They go all of the way back in time for this, some of them even blaming Jimmy Carter for the housing disaster that led to the banking crisis.  If not him, then Barney Frank. More about that in another column.

But there are millions of your (and my) fellow citizens and voters out there who somehow think that things were all peachy keen BEFORE Obama took the oath of office..and that somehow he caused the fire?  If you are a reasonably informed person, this seems absurd... but it doesn't seem absurd for millions of your friends and countrymen who seem to think that the Great Recession, the Great Financial Meltdown, actually started in January 2009.

Duh.  But those uninformed (or forgetful) voters get one vote, as do you and I.  

O.K., let's get the timing right:  The housing bubble burst in late 2006; it started simmering and smoldering in late 2007 or early 2008, and erupted into a full-blown crisis in mid 2008.  Jobs and human beings, particularly middle and working class human beings, were the fuel, the ashes, the "houses" of this fire.  It was burning; a fire out of control.  It was a scary time and it burned and flared for months.

The American people called the Fire Department:  They elected Barack Obama and sent a Democratic Congress (unfortunately, not a filibuster-proof Democratic Congress) to help Obama put out the fire.

But at the same day (Inauguration Day in January 2009) that the Fire Engines were pulling into town; the Republicans were plotting how to obstruct the efforts to put out that fire, cool it down, and stop the clean up.  While you and I wanted and hoped for the fire to be put out, the Republicans didn't want the fire stopped.  They wanted power back, and they knew the way to do that was to keep the fire smoldering and occasionally flaring.

Now... most of you have seen a fire sometime in your life... How much longer would the fire smolder if the efforts of the Fire Department to get it under control, put it out, cool it down, and clear up the debris were hindered by other people?  What if the Fire Department had to fight off people trying to pull them off of ladders as they handled the hoses with the other hand?  What kind of a mess would it be?

And wouldn't you be infuriated if you saw that happening?  And how much more infuriated would you feel if your loved one or your property was in that burning building while others tried to pull the firefighters off of the ladder or turn off the water?

That scenario is unthinkable for most fires, of course.

But not for the economic fire that took over this country in 2008.  The Republicans did not want to extinguish this fire.  They were meeting and plotting from Day 1 on how to keep the fire going so that the Democrats and Obama would get the blame.  I've written about this before  

So let's look at this great chart in terms of that fire:

Private jobs as of June 2012

It
It shows us the number of private sector jobs that were first lost and then added.
 

First, that sharp declining red line:   That's the fire, burning out of control.

Then the line turns blue, still declining:  The Fire Department has arrived.  The fire is still out of control until about April 2009.  Finally, April to July to October to January, the fire is finally out.  Not surprising it took that long.  How long does it take firefighters to put out a fire compared to the time it takes the fire to rage?

Finally, in early 2010, the fire is cool enough, enough debris is cleared, so that we can start rebuilding.  Which continues to this day.  It always takes much longer to rebuild than it does for the fire to rage.. doesn't it?

So remember.. how would you feel if there were thugs and criminals pulling firefighters off of the ladders, trying to turn off the water, while those firefighters were at work trying to protect or rescue your property, your loved ones?  

That's what the Republicans have been doing.  Don't doubt this for a minute.  They have told us.

And you should be infuriated with them for doing this to you and to me and to this country.  

Government Jobs Lost Gained Obama

Under construction... please check back...

In the meantime, please check out these published employment/jobs reports:

All Employment & Jobs Reports (Updated for May 2012)

Government Public Jobs Lost Gained Obama

Under Construction....  please check back.

In the meantime, please check out these published employment/jobs reports:

All Employment & Jobs Reports (Updated for May 2012)

Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Up Slightly (June 14, 2012)

First time unemployment jobless claims increase by 6,000... and the four-week moving average # of claims increases by 3,500.

Extended Benefits decline by 46% as fewer states are eligible for Extended Benefits.

Percent of Unemployed People Receiving Benefits drops to 45.8%.

All Jobs Reports & Numbers Indexed HERE! (May, all 2012 & 2011)

First time unemployment claims increased by 6,000 over those reported last week.  Last week's claims were revised upwards by 3,000.  The four-week moving average increased by 3,500.  As a whole, claims have been stable this spring, but they have tended up over the past six weeks, with slight upwards revisions five of those six weeks.

As usual, to put this into perspective, check out the red line on the chart below to see where jobless claims are now, in spring of 2012, compared to spring of the past three years.

From the current report:

In the week ending June 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 386,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 380,000. The 4-week moving average was 382,000, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 378,500.

The initial claims as announced last week were 377,000, so the claims from that week were revised upwards by 9,000. 

The chart above is one of the BEST charts for understanding and observing changes in the weekly initial claims numbers over time.  This year (red-2012) and the past three years (blue- 2009, green- 2010 and black- 2011) are marked in different colors.  You can see that, as a trend, first time claims for unemployment have gone down SIGNIFICANTLY from one year to the next, even though there are variations within the year.  


Be aware that:  1.  These are first time claims, so people who have continued to receive benefits or who are losing any unemployment benefits would not be counted in these numbers.  2.  They are seasonally adjusted, so most variations caused by weather or holidays are already included in these numbers.  3.  As these are weekly numbers, they are more volatile than the monthly numbers.

Current Springtime Initial Claims Lowest Since 2008

As a whole, the current numbers of initial claims continue to be the lowest springtime initial claims numbers since 2008, as can be seen on the chart above.  


Continuing regular state claims, from people who are continuing to claim unemployment through the initial 20 to 26 week regular unemployment program, have been dropping in unadjusted numbers.  However, in the week ending May 26th, they increased slightly to 3,071,217 from 3,056,137.   In adjusted numbers, for the week ending June 2nd, continuing regular state claims decreased 33,000 to 3,278,000 from 3,311,000.  As a whole, however, continuing regular claims continue to decline despite some weekly increases.  (They were 3,714,000 a year ago.) 

Total number of people receiving unemployment insurance decreases to 45.8% of officially unemployed.

The weekly report also tells us the total number of people who are receiving unemployment benefits.  For the week ending May 26th, 5,824,739 people are receiving unemployment benefits under one of the programs that are available (regular state, extended benefits, federal extended unemployment compensation, or a few other smaller programs).  This compares with 12,720,000 people who are unemployed according to the monthly May unemployment situation report which was released two weeks ago.  Those numbers, showing that 45.8% of the officially unemployed are receiving benefits, should make it clear that people do NOT need to be receiving unemployment insurance to be counted among the unemployed.

Extended Benefits Expire; 46% Fewer People Receive Extended Benefits

Many states have now "triggered" off of Extended Benefits.  Extended Benefits for those states, including California, Illinois, Florida, and several others, ended the weekend of May 12th.

On the current weekly report, as of the week ending May 19th, 253,605 people were still receiving Extended Benefits.  For the week ending May 26th, this declined to 135,502, a large reduction as 118,193 people stopped receiving Extended Benefits.  This is a reduction of 46%.  I mentioned last week that we could expect that the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits would decline to below 6,000,000 as Extended Benefits expire, which did happen last week.  One month ago, 304,755 people were receiving Extended Benefits.  In a month, over one half of the people on Extended Benefits are no longer receiving such benefits.  We do not know how many of these 170,000 people found jobs or how many have another source of income.  


So, while a decrease in the number of people filing for initial claims is a good thing and indicates that fewer people are being laid off, a decrease in the total number of people getting unemployment insurance may only show that fewer people are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits.

Any questions or confusion, please leave a comment or email me!

Private Sector, Total Job Loss & Growth Since 2008 (Updated for March 2015)

Private Sector Job Loss & Growth From 2008 through March 2015.

Total (Private AND Government) Job Loss & Growth from the previous peak of jobs in January 2008 through March 2015 listed below the graph.

How Many Jobs Were Lost in 2008?  Continue reading below the graph!

Does this mean the recovery is complete?

Of course not.  The "V" is now complete, as we have recouped ALL private sector jobs lost since January 2008 and added about 3.5 million more private jobs.  Every month now we record new "peaks of private sector jobs" for this country and new peaks of ALL jobs.  However, we have about 600,000 FEWER government jobs, and, of course, as the population has grown, we still have a way to go in terms of jobs recovery, as we all know.

The recovery has been stronger than first thought.  The blue line above represents the initial estimates of private sector jobs during the initial stages of the recovery in 2011 and 2012.  The green line represents the number of private sector jobs based on the latest revisions.

How Many PRIVATE Sector Jobs Were Lost Before Obama Took Office?

• There were 115,977,000 private sector jobs at the "peak" of jobs in January 2008.
• 3,600,000 private sector jobs were LOST during 2008.
• There were 112,218,000 private sector jobs in December 2008.
• 821,000 private sector jobs were LOST in January 2009, before Obama took office.  (Jobs numbers are calculated as of the second week of the month.  Obama did not take office until the third week of the month.)
• There were 111,398,000 private sector jobs in January 2009 when Obama took the oath of office.
• In total, 4,579,000 private sector jobs were LOST from the "peak" of jobs in January 2008 until Obama took the oath of office in January 2009.

How many PRIVATE sector jobs have been lost or gained since Obama was inaugurated?

• 4,210,000 PRIVATE-sector jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) were LOST from the time Obama took office until the "trough" of the recession in early 2010.  That's a decrease of 3.8%.
• 12,112,000 PRIVATE-sector jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) have been GAINED OR CREATED from the "trough" of the recession until now, March 2015.  That's an increase of 11.3%.
• In total, 7,887,000 private sector jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) have been GAINED from the time Obama took office until now, March 2015.  That's a net increase of 7.1%. 
• We have experienced 61 months of positive private-sector job GROWTH from February 2010 until March 2015.  We have added 12,112,000 private-sector jobs during those 58 months.    
• We now have 119,285,000 PRIVATE sector non-farm jobs.

How Many Jobs in TOTAL (Private & Government) Were Lost Before Obama Took Office?

• There were 138,365,000 jobs at the "peak" of jobs in January 2008.
• 3,591,000 jobs total were LOST during 2008, from January until December 2008.
• There were 134,774,000 jobs in December 2008.
• 798,000 jobs were LOST in January 2009, before Obama took office.
• There were 133,976,000 jobs in January 2009 when Obama took the oath of office.
• In total, 4,389,000 jobs were LOST from the "peak" of jobs in January 2008 until Obama took the oath of office in January 2009.
• How Many Jobs Were Lost Before Obama Took Office?  HERE!

How many jobs in TOTAL (Private & Government) have been lost or gained since Obama was inaugurated?

• 4,321,000 jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) were LOST from the time Obama took office until the "trough" of the recession in early 2010.  That's a decrease of 3.2%.
• Altogether, 8,710,000 jobs in total (private and government) were lost from the "peak" of jobs in January 2008 until the "trough" in February 2010.  That's a decrease of 6.3%.  
• 11,534,000 jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) have been GAINED OR CREATED from the "trough" of the recession in February 2010 until now, March 2015.  That's an increase of 8.9%.
• In total, 7,206,000  jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) have been GAINED from the time Obama took office until now, December 2014.  That's a net increase of 5.4%. 
• We have experienced 54 months of positive TOTAL job GROWTH from September 2010 (when the 2010 Census finished laying off the last of the Census workers) until now, December 2015.  We have added 10,890,000 jobs during those 54 months.    
• We now have 141,183,000 TOTAL (private & government) payroll jobs.

All Jobs Numbers and Reports (2011 through 2015 to date) HERE! 

March 2015 Updates Listed HERE