Added 262,000 jobs and the unemployment rate goes UP
The employment numbers today were a step forward by producing 262,000 new jobs. Not only is that more than were expected, but it is more than economists claim are necessary to keep pace with population growth. To keep pace with our growing work force, our economy needs to produce about 125,000 new jobs each month. Thus, last month we produced more than double that amount. Most would believe that would result in a reduction of the nation's unemployment rate when in fact the unemployment rate increased from 5.2 to 5.4%.
We have seen months in the past when almost no jobs were created and the unemployment rate went down. Thus it is clear, t he unemployment rate statistic is not giving us a clear picture of job condition in our country. What we should be doing is producing monthly , the number of Americans who do not have jobs that pay a living wage. It should include all people who need a living wage job that do not have such a job and compare that statistic month-to-month see how well we are doing in creating meaningful jobs for our growing population.