Private Employment Grows Slowly; Weekly Claims Drop ECONOMY, ADP, EMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT, JOBLESS CLAIMS CNBC staff and wire reports | 03 Jun 2010 | 08:37 AM ET The private sector added a fewer-than-expected 55,000 jobs in May, while the number of workers filing new applications for unemployment insurance fell as expected last week, separate reports showed. The number of people still receiving benefits unexpectedly rose to its highest level in nearly two months. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 453,000 in the week ended May 29, the Labor Department said. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected claims to fall to 450,000 from the previously reported 460,000, which was slightly revised up to 463,000 in Thursday's report. The four-week moving average of new claims, considered a better measure of underlying labor market trends, rose 1,750 to 459,000. A Labor Department official said there were no special factors affecting the report. The claims data has no impact on the government's closely watched employment report for May due on Friday as it falls outside the survey period. Nonfarm payrolls probably increased 513,000 last month, buoyed by hiring for the decennial census, after a 290,000 increase in April, according to a Reuters survey. That would mark five straight months of job gains. Separately, the ADP monthly report showed the service sector added a net 78,000 jobs this month to spur the growth, but the goods producing sector saw a loss of 23,000 positions. Stock futures briefly shed gains after the report but then turned around and continued to indicate a positive open on Wall Street. The number compared with an upwardly revised gain of 65,000 in April, which was originally reported as a gain of 32,000. The median of estimates from 31 economists surveyed by Reuters for the ADP Employer Services report, jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers, was for a rise of 60,000 private-sector jobs in May. "While hiring as turned positive, the growth of employment to this point has been moderate," Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisors, said in a CNBC interview. "Indeed, this month's number suggests some reversal of the speed in which employment has been expanding over the past several months." Although the economy has now grown for three straight quarters following the worst downturn since the 1930s and the recovery is broadening, stubbornly high unemployment is eroding President Barack Obama's popularity. It threatens to damage the Democrats at the midterm congressional elections in November. While other indicators support views the labor market recovery is firming, claims for jobless benefits remain above levels usually associated with sustainable employment growth. The number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid unexpectedly rose 31,000 to 4.67 million in the week ended May 22, the highest since early April, the Labor Department said. The level was above market expectations for 4.60 million. The insured unemployment rate, which measures the percentage of the insured labor force that is jobless, was unchanged at 3.6 percent for a seventh straight week. Productivity Slows In other economic news, U.S. non-farm productivity growth was much slower than initially estimated in the first quarter, government data showed on Thursday, as businesses started adding workers to maintain output.The Labor Department said non-farm productivity rose at a 2.8 percent annual rate, instead of the previously reported 3.6 percent pace. It was the smallest advance in a year, following a 6.3 percent growth pace in the fourth quarter.Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast productivity, which measures the hourly output per worker, rising at a 3.4 percent rate in the January-March period.Following a rapid expansion in the previous three quarters as businesses squeezed more output from a small group of workers, productivity is slowing down and analysts expect the trend to continue as companies increase payrolls.Some companies have held off hiring new workers, opting instead to add hours for the existing workforce, but analysts believe this policy cannot be adopted indefinitely.The economy grew at an annual pace of 3.0 percent in the first quarter, slowing from a 5.6 percent rate in the fourth quarter.Total non-farm output grew at a 4.0 percent rate in the January-March period, rather than the 4.4 percent pace previously reported, after a robust 7.0 percent pace in the fourth quarter, the Labor Department said.Hours worked increased at a 1.1 percent rate, instead of 0.8 percent. The increase in hours was the highest since the second quarter of 2007 and marked an acceleration from the 0.7 percent pace in the fourth quarter.Unit labor costs, a gauge of inflation and profit pressures closely watched by the Federal Reserve, fell a less steep 1.3 percent rather than 1.6 percent. That follows a 7.8 percent drop in the fourth quarter.Analysts had expected unit labor costs to fall 1.4 percent in the first quarter.Weak unit labor costs still pointed to muted inflation pressures and augur well for the U.S. central bank's pledge to keep benchmark interest rates low for an extended period
|