At a glance and with a bevy of charts, we take a look at current business cycles, labor and the employment situation in America. "Employment continued to trend up in construction, food services and drinking places, health care and manufacturing. The strength of the U.S. labor market is evident from the most-recent Labor Department figures which showed that U.S. filings for unemployment benefits decreased by 10,000 to 210,000, the lowest since December 1969 (better than the estimation of 225,000)." - NASDAQ
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- JANUARY 2018 Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 200,000 in January, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment continued to trend up in construction, food services and drinking places, health care, and manufacturing.
Household Survey Data In January, the unemployment rate was 4.1 percent for the fourth consecutive month. The number of unemployed persons, at 6.7 million, changed little over the month.
Healthcare, Food + Drink
Employment in food services and drinking places continued to trend up in January (+31,000). The industry has added 255,000 jobs over the past 12 months. Employment in health care continued to trend up in January (+21,000), with a gain of 13,000 in hospitals. In 2017, health care added an average of 24,000 jobs per month.
Housing + Construction
Construction added 36,000 jobs in January, with most of the increase occurring among specialty trade contractors (+26,000). Employment in residential building construction continued to trend up over the month (+5,000). Over the year, construction employment has increased by 226,000.
Data from: LTCI Economics, DB Research, Atlanta FED
