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Jan. Nonfarm Payrolls: +36K vs. consensus of +136K, +121K (revised from +103K) in December....

  • Friday, February 4, 2011, 8:30 AM ET
    Jan. Nonfarm Payrolls: +36K vs. consensus of +136K, +121K (revised from +103K) in December. Unemployment 9% vs 9.5% expected. Avg. hourly earnings +$0.08. to $22.86.
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This news story has 23 comments:

  •  
    Does that make any sense?

    I thought there was a mistake in this headline but the link says the same thing.
    4 Feb 2011, 08:35 AM Reply Like
  •  
    After reading the release - it turns out that the way they calculate the population of available workers has changed. The new method shrinks the available workforce and therefore the unemployment rate has fallen. So we are no longer comparing apples and apples.

    I am sure some ingenious person will shortly calculate the difference using the old standard.

    All I can say is that "Soylent Green is People".
    4 Feb 2011, 08:50 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Hard to believe they can get away with not including long term unemployed. I wonder what the real number is?
    4 Feb 2011, 09:22 AM Reply Like
  •  
    NILF skyrockets by 2.2 million.

    Gallup nailed the NSA UE at 9.8%
    4 Feb 2011, 08:35 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Those college grads are still living with mom and dad.
    4 Feb 2011, 08:38 AM Reply Like
  •  
    "Not Intelligent Life Forms"?

    What's NILF?
    4 Feb 2011, 08:39 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Not in the labor force
    4 Feb 2011, 08:44 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Not In Labor Force. Table A-16 of the report. Number of people of work age who aren't in the labor force, not collecting unemployment, etc.
    Additionally the participation rate and size of labor force are also key. Both numbers Not Seasonally Adjusted, NSA, declined.
    4 Feb 2011, 08:46 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Thanks! I thought there a lot more hot newspeople out there!
    4 Feb 2011, 08:59 AM Reply Like
  •  
    These numbers over the past 6 months have been pathetic-- to blame weather is another form of stupid desperation-- hey at least people can be hired to remove all the snow and de-ice things, right? The economy is not going to get better over temp jobs. The market pundits will want to try to coax the rest of Americans into thinking that we have to be patient... at some point jobs will be created regardless of the amount of imbalances that the fed is creating.

    In a word: pathetic.
    4 Feb 2011, 08:38 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Papaswamp - you're talking about Nothing In Life is Free and not the other definitions of NILF, right? (Consider this your Fri morning chuckle)...
    4 Feb 2011, 08:38 AM Reply Like
  •  
    You mean News-people I'd Like to ...........?
    4 Feb 2011, 08:40 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Excellent!
    4 Feb 2011, 08:46 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Here I just thought he fat fingered the N instead of typing M. 2.2 million more MILFs sounds great!
    4 Feb 2011, 08:58 AM Reply Like
  •  
    A few changes to how the "data" is compiled and and to the report itself. Gonna take time to digest, but the dollar seems to believe the 9% number.
    4 Feb 2011, 08:42 AM Reply Like
  •  
    The 9% number is sort of a fudge in my mind. Fewer people were counted. More of those that were previously counted as unemployed have been dropped from the count thus it appears the percentage is improving. Might want to look at the U-6 number (increased to 17.3 (NSA)) as opposed to the U-3 number (or look at the not seasonally adjusted rate which rose to 9.8%).
    4 Feb 2011, 08:50 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Increases in manufacturing (+49k), retail (+28k) and health care (+11k) were offset by drops in construction (-32k) and transportation/warehou... (-38k).

    Construction tends to be seasonal, so it shouldn't be a surprise to see a drop during such a wintery month. This seems more liked a mixed report than a bad one, but let's see what the market says when it opens.
    4 Feb 2011, 08:46 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Weather was nasty - would hurt construction more than any other sector. Wonder how the under-the-table plow guys did. Roofing companies made $500 an hour removing snow from roofs - wonder how much of that is actually counted. Underground economy does quite well during times like these.
    4 Feb 2011, 09:04 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Aren't statistics fun....
    4 Feb 2011, 08:55 AM Reply Like
  •  
    lies -- damn lies -- statistics -- government statistics
    4 Feb 2011, 09:01 AM Reply Like
  •  
    Crazy numbers, but if someone has to spin it like a top......

    They actually saw 500K new people hired but because of snow they didn't yet start their jobs. So, they're not looking but they haven't started a new job yet. LOL
    4 Feb 2011, 09:06 AM Reply Like
  •  
    They're stuck in snow?
    4 Feb 2011, 09:24 AM Reply Like
  •  
    I just wrote this in another comments section on SA, but it is probably worth repeating.

    Please view their Table A-15 in the employment report. The reason for the really quite unexplainable drop is there. Specifically, look at the Seasonally Adjusted numbers for Dec and Jan vs. the Not Seasonally Adjusted.

    We all know the phrase Voodoo Economics.. this is Voodoo Statistics
    4 Feb 2011, 03:35 PM Reply Like
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