Dec Payrolls fell by 85k but Nov showed a positive gain of 4k up from the initial report of -11 but Oct was revised down by 16k. Household employment fell by 589k but because the labor force fell by 661k, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10% and this continued drop in the labor force is why the unemployment rate will remain high even when jobs are being added b/c these people will eventually come back into the labor force. The all in rate rose to 17.3% from 17.2%. The average duration of unemployment rose to 29.1 weeks and avg weekly hours was unchanged at 33.2. Most sectors lost jobs but temp rose by another 47k, up for a 5th month and usually is a precursor to permanent hiring. The financial sector actually showed a job gain. Ex Post Office, the Fed’l Govt added jobs while state and local cut. The birth/death model magically added 59k, the same as Dec ’09. Net-net, we are not in your typical WWII recovery and major headwinds still remain as lumpy may be the best description of the recovery we will see.
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