Payrolls Increase in 37 U.S. States, Led by Michigan
Chrysler Auto Plant Detroit
Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg
New 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokees move down the assembly line at the Chrysler LLC Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit, Michigan.
New 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokees move down the assembly line at the Chrysler LLC Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit, Michigan. Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg
Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Steven Cochrane, director of regional economics at Moody’s Analytics, talks about the outlook for the U.S. labor market. Payrolls increased in 37 states in July, led by a jump in Michigan that may reflect a gain in auto making, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. Cochrane talks with Matt Miller and Carol Massar on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)
Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Robert Mellman, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co., talks with Bloomberg's Julie Hyman about the state of the U.S. economy and the prospects for quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve. Economists at JPMorgan lowered U.S. growth estimates, predicting that the economy will grow at a 1.5 percent annual rate this quarter and at a 2 percent pace in the last three months of the year, a percentage point less than they previously projected. (Source: Bloomberg)
Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- George Pipas, U.S. sales analyst for Ford Motor Co., talks with Bloomberg's Lori Rothman about the automaker's July U.S. auto sales. Ford reported U.S. sales in July that trailed analysts’ estimates as consumers concerned about the economy limited large purchases. Ford's adjusted sales fell 0.7 percent, trailing analysts’ estimates for a 10 percent gain. Its total sales climbed 3.1 percent. (Source: Bloomberg)
Payrolls increased in 37 U.S. states in July, led by a jump in Michigan that may reflect a gain in auto making.
Employers in Michigan added 27,800 jobs last month, the most since October, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. Massachusetts, New York and Minnesota rounded out the four states with the biggest job gains. Employment in the District of Columbia climbed by 17,800, the most since records began in 1990 and second behind Michigan.
The U.S. lost 131,000 jobs last month as the government cut temporary workers conducting the 2010 census, and private payrolls rose a less-than-forecast 71,000, according to Labor Department figures released Aug. 6. Manufacturing employment increased by 36,000, a seventh consecutive gain.
“Manufacturing has been playing a big role in the recovery and certainly is helping Michigan, with the improved health of the auto industry and auto suppliers,” said Steven Cochrane, director of regional economics at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “What we have to realize, though, is that that impact may be lessening as this year comes to a close.”
The majority of the gain in Michigan was due to a 20,100 increase in factory jobs, today’s report showed.
General Motors Co., based in Detroit, kept most of its U.S. plants open this year when it traditionally shuts down factories for retooling.
Ford’s Plans
At the same time, automakers aren’t going to keep expanding. Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford Motor Co. has no plans to increase production of any of its current models because demand is fragile in the weak economic recovery, George Pipas, the carmaker’s sales analyst, said in an interview this month.
North Carolina, with a loss of 29,800 jobs, and New Jersey, with a 21,200 decrease, paced the 13 states showing declines in payrolls.
All industries except construction and government agencies showed gains in payrolls, led by a 77,000 increase in education and health care. Government agencies cut 202,000 workers from payrolls, in part reflecting the drop in census workers.
Nevada had the highest jobless rate in the country, reaching 14.3 percent, the highest since data began in 1976. Unemployment in Michigan, the second-highest, dropped to 13.1 percent from 13.2 percent.
Improvement in Alabama
The report showed 11 states had unemployment of 10 percent or higher. Eighteen states showed a decrease in joblessness, paced by a 0.6 percentage point drop in Alabama.
“Broadly speaking, these numbers just show the slow pace of the employment rebound,” said Cochrane. “Unemployment rates aren’t budging much.”
New York City’s unemployment rate fell for the seventh straight month, to 9.4 percent from 9.5 percent, the state Labor Department said yesterday. The state’s rate remained unchanged at 8.2 percent.
New Jersey’s jobless rate rose to 9.7 percent in July, the first monthly increase since December as municipalities cut payrolls to balance budgets.
State and local employment data are derived independently from the national statistics, which are typically released on the first Friday of every month. The state figures are subject to larger sampling errors because they come from smaller surveys, making the national figures more reliable, according to the government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Budget Cuts
State and local governments are facing mounting budget deficits that in turn are forcing some municipalities to make their own staff reductions. Congress this month passed legislation providing $26 billion in aid to state governments that is designed to prevent thousands of layoffs of teachers and other public service employees.
CareFusion Corp. is one company cutting workers. The San Diego-based maker of products to reduce hospital injections and monitor medical safety said Aug. 10 that it will eliminate about 700 jobs as part of a restructuring designed to eliminate layers of management and to lower costs.
The labor market may feed voter discontent with the state of the economy heading into the November elections that will determine which party controls Congress. President Barack Obama yesterday called on lawmakers in Washington to cut taxes and ease credit for small businesses when they reconvene in September.
To contact the reporter on this story: Timothy R. Homan in Washington at thoman1@bloomberg.net
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