This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.washingtonpost.com/us-economy-added-321000-jobs-in-november-unemployment-rate-holds-at-58percent/2014/12/05/2852630a-33f0-4e73-93e3-d36a8bbc34dd_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
U.S. economy added 321,000 jobs in November; unemployment rate holds at 5.8% U.S. economy added 321,000 jobs in November; unemployment rate holds at 5.8%
(35 minutes later)
The U.S. economy added 321,000 jobs last month, according to government data released Friday morning, in what may be the most assertive sign to date that the labor market is returning to pre-recession health. A months-long hiring spree has pushed the U.S. labor market closer to full health, providing workers with their best chance since the financial crisis to find higher-paying jobs or enjoy see long-awaited wage increases.
November’s numbers cap the best three-month period of labor market expansion since the financial crisis and keep the country on track for a year of job growth unseen since the late 1990s. On Friday, the government announced that the U.S. economy added 321,000 jobs in November, the best figure in nearly three years, keeping the country on track for the strongest annual job growth since the late 1990s. That performance, coming even as other advanced economies slump, has lifted hopes among economists and U.S. officials that a slow, six-year recovery is beginning to yield substantial benefits for ordinary workers.
The unemployment rate kept steady at 5.8 percent, its lowest mark since July 2008, according to the report from the U.S. Department of Labor. Workers are not only reentering the labor force from the sidelines, data show, but also growing increasingly likely to have the to confidence to quit their jobs and move to better ones that pay more or more closely match their skills.  
Some economists said that November’s data — across-the-board job creation, coupled with a slight uptick in wages — has put the American economy in its best position in years. The country has also been buoyed by plummeting global oil prices, which translate to a de facto raise for American consumers, who are now spending far less at the pump. “We are kind of hitting that point where the tide is turning, and the labor market is more in favor of the worker than it has been in many years,” said Tara Sinclair, chief economist at Indeed.com, a job search Web site.
For several years, the U.S. recovery has felt stubbornly incomplete: Jobs have come back while wages have stagnated. But the latest numbers came with nascent signs of wage growth, the result of qualified individuals reentering the workforce, putting pressure on companies to retain their best employees or bid for new applicants.
According to Labor Department data Friday, average hourly wages spiked 0.37 percent from October to November, the sharpest month-to-month change in more than a year.
If salaries continue to grow, economists say, Americans will be taking home more money even as they spend less as the pump, due to falling oil and gasoline prices. The potent combination wouldboost the amount of money Americans have to spend and provide a broader lift to the economy.
 Still, economists said it was far too early to declare that a robust wage recovery had begun. Over the course of a year, hourly earnings are still up only 2.1 percent, just a tick above the inflation rate, but weekly earnings provide a more encouraging sign. The average American last month took home $853.24 per month — a 2.4 percent increase from the $833.18 figure of a year earlier — partly because of working longer hours.
“One month does not make a trend, but I am encouraged,” Department of Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez said Friday in an interview. “One of the best ways to lift wages is to pick up the pace of job creation, which is exactly what we’re doing. Because job creation will trigger more upward pressure on wages.”
Some economists said that November’s data has put the American economy in its best position in years. The unemployment rate remains at 5.8 percent, a post-recession low point. So far this year, the United States has added some 2.65 million jobs, an average of about 241,000 a month. For 10 straight months now, the economy has added at least 200,000 jobs. That hasn’t happened since 1994.
President Obama said on Friday that the United States has added more jobs over the last four years than Europe, Japan, and all other advanced countries combined. Other U.S. officials noted that job growth in November was driven by traditionally blue-collar or higher-skill sectors, a contrast to the low-wage boom earlier in the recovery.
In November, the business and professional services sector — accountants, engineers, administrators — added 86,000 jobs, tops among all industries. This year, the country has added about 15,000 manufacturing jobs per month, more than double the pace from 2013. Construction has added about 21,000 per month this year, compared with 13,000 per month in 2013.
“The labor market is healing faster than almost any analysts expected just a few months ago,” Scott Anderson, chief economist at Bank of the West, said Friday.“The labor market is healing faster than almost any analysts expected just a few months ago,” Scott Anderson, chief economist at Bank of the West, said Friday.
So far this year, the United States has added some 2.65 million jobs — an average of about 241,000 a month. November marked the best single month for job growth since January 2012 and well exceeded the projection of economists surveyed by Bloomberg, who predicted that the economy had added about 223,000 jobs for the month. For 10 straight months now, the economy has added at least 200,000 jobs. That hasn’t happened since 1994.
Separately, job growth totals for September and October were both revised upward, accounting together for an additional 44,000 jobs.
President Obama touted the numbers on Friday. “Now it’s been a long road to recovery from the worst economic crisis in generations, and we still have a lot more work to do to make sure that hard-working Americans’ wages are growing faster,” he said. “But the United States continues to out-pace most of the world. Over the last four years we’ve put more people back to work than Europe, Japan, and all other industrialized, advanced countries combined.”
The increasingly muscular recovery could nudge forward the timetable for the Federal Reserve to consider raising interest rates. Most analysts expect that move to come in mid-2015.
U.S. workers were clobbered by job losses in 2008 and 2009, then pinned down by a series of false starts. But the latest data shows signs that the recovery is translating into meaningful improvements for average workers. Last month, the number of long-term employed ticked down. So, too, did the number of workers holding part-time jobs because they can’t find full-time positions. The average American work week rose by 1/10th of an hour, and factory workers are now getting slightly more overtime.
Stagnant wages have long been the fly in the recovery’s ointment. But November provided reason for cautious hope: Average private hourly wages rose to $24.66, up 0.37 percent from the previous month. That represents the sharpest spike in more than a year. Still, some economists cautioned that month-to-month changes can be fickle. Take the longer view, and the picture is more subdued: Adjusted for inflation, wage growth still remains essentially flat since the recession.
“There is more work to be done to further boost wage growth and address longer-standing challenges around both the quality of jobs and the growth of wages,” Jason Furman, chairman of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, said in a statement Friday.
Furman noted that “many sectors” saw particularly strong job growth for the month. Retail, one of the best-performing industries post-recession, added about 50,000 jobs. Health care and education added about 38,000. Beyond that, some of the best numbers came in higher-performing fields. The business and professional services sector — accountants, engineers, administrators — added 86,000 jobs.
Traditional blue-collar manufacturing and construction jobs, hard-hit by the recession, are also showing signs of a comeback. This year, the United States has added about 15,000 manufacturing jobs per month, more than double the pace from 2013. Construction has added about 21,000 per month this year, compared with 13,000 per month in 2013.
“When I saw this [jobs] report, I literally gasped,” said James Marple, a senior economist at TD Bank. “Over the last couple of months, I would say the American economy is reaching a real sweet spot. It’s exactly what we’ve been looking for and what we’ve been missing.”
In one sign of labor market confidence, workers have grown more likely to quit their jobs, meaning they’ve either received new employment offers or feel confident they will. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the “quit rate,” as it is known, now stands at 2.2 percent among private workers. From July 2008 to July 2014 the rate never surpassed 2 percent.In one sign of labor market confidence, workers have grown more likely to quit their jobs, meaning they’ve either received new employment offers or feel confident they will. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the “quit rate,” as it is known, now stands at 2.2 percent among private workers. From July 2008 to July 2014 the rate never surpassed 2 percent.
In a speech earlier this week, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley said that U.S. economic growth looks “brighter” and “above the trend of the past five years.” Dudley mentioned declining energy prices and noted that housing prices have recovered, fewer borrowers are underwater, and state and local governments are again hiring after a lengthy period of contraction. People grow likelier to leave their jobs when the broader economy is functioning well, and in recent months, some have taken positions they couldn’t find earlier in the recovery. Others have left jobs they disliked and reentered the hunt.
  Some, like Daniel Ovalles, 25, have found new jobs they never even expected.
This story has been corrected to note that job losses were concentrated in 2008 and 2009. Ovalles, who has an engineering degree from Texas A&M, has the kind of story that would have sounded jarring a few years earlier: An opportunity literally landed in his LinkedIn inbox.
At the time he received the note, Ovalles was working a terrific job that was also a major grind. He spent his time in the remote Texas oilfields as a field engineer for Schlumberger, an oil services company.
Ovalles made $150,000 annually, but he was on the road so often that he didn’t even have an apartment. He’d bounce from job to job — Midland, Tex.; Laredo; Victoria — working 12-hour shifts, spending his down time in a mobile trailer he shared with three other employees.
The e-mail came from Murray Services, a Houston-based staffing and recruiting agency that has doubled its own staff in the last year to keep pace with increased demand —  likely the result of a stronger overall economy combined with a domestic energy boom.
Murray contacted Ovalles on behalf of BC Johnson, a risk management consulting firm that specializes in the energy industry. Murray noticed Ovalles’ LinkedIn profile — his oil field work; his fluency in Spanish — and thought he’d be a good fit.
Ovalles, at first, didn’t pay the inquiry any attention. Then he spent three more weeks in the field.
“That’s when you start going crazy,” he said. “So I looked at it again.”
He put in his two-weeks’ notice and thanked Schlumberger for the opportunity.
Now, in his new job, which he started in October, Ovalles works from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. He has a 15-minute commute from his apartment. His salary is slightly reduced, but he feels he traded up, taking an opportunity that might not have been available several years earlier.
“You have to have that life balance,” he said, “and in my old job I didn’t.”