What does the November report tell us?
This is a much better jobs report than we’ve seen in awhile. Job losses were only 11,000 in November and they’ve averaged just 104,000 per month over the past three months. That’s a major change from losses averaging 645,000 jobs per month during the period of maximum job loss from November 2008 to April 2009. The other headline number, the unemployment rate, stood at 10 percent in November. That’s down from 10.2 percent the month before. But most analysts think that the unemployment rate is still going to climb higher before it starts to decline permanently. And keep in mind that at the start of the recession the unemployment rate was at 4.9 percent. In addition, some other details in the report remain troubling. 2. Some might have thought that this report was the first sign of the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. What about the report do you find to be troubling? A: Well, Michelle, jobs are still extremely scarce for those who have been looking for work for a long time. The
