Unemployment declined in Feb. jobs report

Joblessness has dropped since the end of January, in accordance with the newly issued February jobs report, though by a modest percentage. The rate of joblessness declined .01 % to 8.9 % over Feb.. This is the 3rd month in a row in which unemployment has declined. Article source – February jobs report shows decline in unemployment by MoneyBlogNewz.

Much more jobs being added

There was a small increase in Feb. in the number of jobs according to the Department of Labor's February jobs statement. CNN reports that from January to February, the unemployment went down to 8.9 % from 9 percent, a 0.1 percent decrease. From January, 192,000 jobs were included to the sector which is amazing. The Los Angeles Times reports that about 63,000 jobs were added in Jan, although weather could be part of this reason. The Labor Department revised December and Jan work reports to say that 50,000 brand new jobs were not reported in there.

Third month showing increased employment

This is the third consecutive month that the joblessness rate has gone down. The pace of unemployment has waxed and waned for the past several years, and there have been declines noted all along the way, however the joblessness rate dropped nearly an entire percentage point from Dec. to February, marking significant progress. There were only 368,000 unemployment claims. That is a three year low. More than 9 million people are claiming unemployment benefits, in accordance with Forbes. In 2011, a 3.5 to 4 % growth in the economy was expected by the Federal Reserve. That could change because of the rising gas prices though.

Issues seen with government spending cuts

CBS states that cutting the federal spending budget is a goal that several Republicans have in mind although economists are worried that could hurt the unemployment rate some much more. Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, forecasted that the House Republican plan to cut $61 billion from the federal spending budget could result in more than 700,000 individuals losing their jobs. This projection was mirrored fairly closely by Goldman Sachs. You should remember that Zandi claimed that the stimulus spending would allow unemployment to stay under 8 % while being one of the most supportive people of the stimulus packages.

Citations

CNN

cnn.com/2011/03/04/news/economy/february_jobs_report/

Los Angeles Times

latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/03/february-unemployment-jobs-economy-recovery-obama.html

Forbes

blogs.forbes.com/heatherstruck/2011/03/04/jobs-report-at-high-end-of-expectations-unemployment-drops-to-8-9/

CBS News

cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20037435-503544.html