Trade Deficit up. Worker Productivity down.

Jobless Claims  (week ended 1/31/2015)

– Initial Claims (seasonally adjusted)  278,000. Previous was 267,000
– Initial Claims (unadjusted) totaled 305,712 an increase of 23,827 from the previous week.
– 4-week Moving Average    292,750. Previous was 299,250

Challenger Job-Cut Report (January 2015)
– Announced layoffs  53,041. Previous month was 32,640

Gallup US Payroll to Population (January 2015)

– Payroll to Population ratio  44.1. Previous was 44.3.

As I say in my monthly newsletter on the BLS Employment Situation Report it is the percent of the population which is working that we should pay greatest heed to, not the Unemployment rate.

International Trade (December 2014)

– Trade Deficit $46.4 billion.  Previous was $39.8 billion.

This hurts GDP.  The dynamics of this involve rapidly changing oil prices, the stronger US$, and weakness in the EU.

Productivity and Costs (4thQ2014)

– Nonfarm productivity quarter/quarter (seasonally adjusted, annualized) -1.8%. Previous was +3.7%
– Unit labor costs quarter/quarter (seasonally adjusted, annualized)   +2.7%. Previous was -2.3%.

Productivity is GDP/hours worked.  Output increased 3.2% and hours worked increased 5.1%.  This is the largest percentage increase in hours worked in the past 16 years.