April BLS: Markets Embrace Mediocrity.

BLS Employment Situation Report (April 2015)

 

– Nonfarm Payrolls month/month  223,000. Previous revised down to +85,000.
– Unemployment Rate 5.4%. Previous was 5.5%. The Unemployment Rate is at the lowest level since May 2008.
– Participation Rate 62.8%. Previous was 62.7%
– Average Hourly Earnings month/month +0.1%. Previous was +0.2%
– Average Workweek  34.5 hours. Previous was 34.5 hours.

Quick take:  with the adjustments to the 2 previous months the new jobs gain in the month was 184,000 which may be better than the prior month but is still sluggish.  This is after a particularly weak 1stQ2015 both for jobs and GDP. Weak growth is happening despite extremely accommodative monetary policy.  Some of the weakness in is due to the oil industry reducing rig count.  Oil was one of the biggest producers of jobs last year and after crude prices declined rigs were shut down. The part of the BLS report which included oil workers declined 15,000 its largest loss since May 2009.  Healthcare and social assistance gained 55,600 jobs.