December Jobs Soar by 292K, Smash Expectations But Average Wages Post First Drop Since 2014
As we noted in the jobs preview, only a super strong number had any chance of prompting a market reaction, and sure enough, the just announced December print of +292,000 smashed expectations of +200K, surging from last month's upward revised 252K, while October was revised to a massive 307,000, a net addition of 50K over the last two months.
So time for another rate hike, right?
Not so fast: as usual, the fly in the ointment was a well-familiar one: wages simply did not grow, and with Wall Street expecting a 0.2% increase in average hourly wages, in December not only was there no wage growth, but in fact, average hourly earnings posted a tiny decline from $25.25 to $25.24.
From the report:
The number of unemployed persons, at 7.9 million, was essentially unchanged in December, and the unemployment rate was 5.0 percent for the third month in a row. Over the past 12 months, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were down by 0.6 percentage point and 800,000, respectively. (See table A-1.)
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for blacks declined to 8.3 percent in December, while the rates for adult men (4.7 percent), adult women (4.4 percent), teenagers (16.1 percent), whites (4.5 percent), Asians (4.0 percent), and Hispanics (6.3 percent) showed little or no change. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 2.1 million in December and accounted for 26.3 percent of the unemployed. The number of long-term unemployed has shown little movement since June, but was down by 687,000 over the year. (See table A-12.)
The civilian labor force participation rate, at 62.6 percent, was little changed in December and has shown little movement in recent months. In December, the employment- population ratio, at 59.5 percent, changed little. (See table A-1.)
* * *
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 292,000 in December. Employment rose in several industries, including professional and business services, construction, health care, and food services and drinking places. Mining employment continued to decline. In 2015, payroll employment growth totaled 2.7 million, compared with 3.1 million in 2014. (See table B-1.)
Employment in professional and business services increased by 73,000 in December, with temporary help services accounting for 34,000 of the gain. In 2015, professional and business services added 605,000 jobs, compared with a gain of 704,000 in 2014.
Construction showed strong job growth for the third consecutive month, gaining 45,000 jobs in December. Job gains occurred among specialty trade contractors (+29,000) and in construction of buildings (+10,000). Over the year, construction added 263,000 jobs, compared with a gain of 338,000 jobs in 2014.
In December, health care employment rose by 39,000, with most of the increase occurring in ambulatory health care services (+23,000) and hospitals (+12,000). Job growth in health care averaged 40,000 per month in 2015, compared with 26,000 per month in 2014.
Food services and drinking places added 37,000 jobs in December. In 2015, the industry added 357,000 jobs.
Employment in transportation and warehousing rose by 23,000 in December, with a gain of 15,000 in couriers and messengers.
Within the information industry, motion pictures and sound recording added 15,000 jobs in December, offsetting a decline of 13,000 in the prior month.
Employment in mining continued to decline in December (-8,000). After adding 41,000 jobs in 2014, mining lost 129,000 jobs in 2015, with most of the loss in support activities for mining.
Manufacturing employment changed little in December, though its nondurable goods component added 14,000 jobs. In 2015, manufacturing employment was little changed (+30,000), following strong growth in 2014 (+215,000).
Employment in other major industries, including wholesale trade, retail trade, financial activities, and government, changed little over the month.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.5 hours in December. The manufacturing workweek edged down by 0.1 hour to 40.6 hours, and factory overtime edged up by 0.1 hour to 3.3 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.7 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)
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Same old stuff, different Month
Layoff / Business Closing List: http://www.dailyjobcuts.com
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Fiction
I guess they will start putting it in the air and water supply soon to insure "complete belief"
Shortin the gold here boss.....cause that's just what you do.
Even if it's not real.
No real ounces of gold were harmed.....just some paper crap.
Considering that gold has done nothing but lose value over the past 5 years, and hasn't actually posted a gain over a period going back to 2009, shorting gold isn't exactly a big bet. In fact, making money by taking advantage of people who aren't smart enough to sell the gold they already have seems almost cruel. But yeah, betting against gold is almost as good as owning the Fed - it's like you have a license to print your own money.
gold? man we have cnbc, we don't need no stinkin gold. look here cnbc tells me how to win the $700 million power ball http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/08/few-ways-to-improve-your-odds-for-record-...
high quality journalism
Incredible. CNBC will stop at nothing to encourage people to part with their money and turn it over to the "system."
I'm sorry, but there is nothing one can do to improve odds of winning the lottery, unless you have the ability to fix it.
The lottery is a voluntary tax - skimming off the top of a transfer payment from millions to a few, anonymous beneficiaries.
Betting against gold is like a license to print money? Yeah, until it isn't. The real strategy is shorting GLD and buying real stuff with the profit.
Oh, forgot to mention, until you lose it all in a tragic boating accident.
The holiday season temp sales clerk and bartender jobs, are you kidding me, shall be an idiot the one who thinks these are middle class long term jobs?!
Waking up and seeing almost 300,000 new jobs added in December makes me proud to be an American! Yes, the assortment of dupes, knaves and misogynists assembled here have a hard time seeing that our country is ascendant and, indeed, the very picture of economic health...but as they say, you can't fix stupid.
It is morning in America, imbeciles!
/s
The weather had a positive affect on the models. Construction didn't layoff in December in the Northeast because the weather was great. The models expect a decline in construction in December but instead it stayed flat so the models show more.
I think I love you.
Your mornign is about an hour long.
Imbicile.
well good "mornign" to you
uh "imbicile"
This is guy is serious isn't he? Oh damn.
ennnngh1 Yeah right
remember the good ole days....60's, 70's, 80's....when holiday hiring surge didn't SURPRISE anyone because it happened EVERY DAMN YEAR!
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LOL! This must be true. And 13 year olds can buy guns for less than the cost of a book. Despite the legal age to buy a gun at a store is 18 in the USA and libraries will loan you a book for free.
I had guessed 300K ...
(so I feel vindicated)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVsfOSbJY0
You've got good instincts - I salute you.
ok, think about this. i have had 4 different jobs in the last year. so i am four people according to the statistics, right? job hopping cause they all suck, ha. so that could explain the rise that represents bullshit. think i am alone, not...
Indeed. Lather, rinse and repeat your story ... times about 100k. Hang in there!
I lost my job back right before Thanksgiving. Just took a part-time, temporary job for the time being, while I find a way to hopefully replace my lost income. I feel your pain. Really does suck.
now i am working with about 80 percent mex. 15/hr-ok. nothing against mex-very kind considerate people. i work the job with very little debt so i can say fuck this shit and try something different. i got asets:), cash ect for at least a year. but with a college degree and being 59 with no exact skill or trade i am kinda fucked and i know it. just trying to get to the "finish" line. one last home downsize and walla - zero debt and skills to do anything from build a home, fabricating metal, finance, meat processing, u name the task, can do. but go into a job marketplace with 5 million others that have basically the same skills and try to explain the value when others will take any job at any pay. fucked up to say the least. we obviously need moar immigration for the conservative base-ha fucking ha. i hate republicans as much as democrates.
build that wall and set gopher traps in each tunnel. ha again.
We're saved!!!!! (sobs uncontrollably)
Yesterday the S&P dropped below its 1965 support and overnight futures twice tried and lost the attempt to regain that level. The job report this morning put it over the top but it couldn't hold. They are screwed, this is going to be a very bad hair day for TPTB.
That's the spirit!
Similarly, right after the "jobs report" PMs were smacked below the crucial $14 & $1100 levels, only to regain them almost immediately. Prediction (yes we know this is crazy or is it bold as love?): If these levels hold through the close today, you will never see $13 paper silver or $1000 paper gold again.
critical support is lost. next stop aug lows. bust thru them a whooosh to fab retraces back to 11 then 9...
Notice the two unusually strong job report numbers right after the casino takes a shit twice now. Nah, it aint fucking rigged.
Time to revisit BLS fraud of yesteryear
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-18/october-2012-pre-election-jobs-report-was-faked
Well, now the FED can raise rates again.
Lovely how the FED is now painted into a corner.
Aren't there some new job openings in Hong Kong ?
So ...
Is "good news" good news now?
(I'm checking)
Yes, just bad news is better!
^this^
yay.....
Hey, it's an election year.
Obama and his BLS figured it was time to grease the skids for Hillary.
Cheat sheet for interpretation of economic data on Zero Hedge:
1) If the numbers are good, it's a grand conspiracy reaching to the highest levels of government.
2) If the numbers are bad, the numbers are to be trusted and stand as proof that utter economic catastrophe is imminent.
Excellent, you are finally getting it. This whole thing is a farce, and only a fool would deny it. If you want to keep your head in the sand be my guest, but could you at least do it down in the Porter Ranch area and serve a real purpose?
Damn, that was my shortest romance in duration ever.
Yeah yeah (yawn)... burp...
http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/unemployment-charts
Sell the news or buy the news?
Yes....and hurry.
This seems impossible! Most companies hire in Q1 or Q2 not the end of the year.
I think thier making this up as they go. When things get serious, you have to lie!
Temporary Christmas jobs at department stores and more demand for waitresses, bartenders and catering for all those Christmas office parties.