March Unemployment Report: Everything You Need To Know About The Latest Jobs Figures

Though the U.S. economy showed the biggest monthly increase in jobs in three years, the national unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent, according to the government's latest jobs report.

And while there is certainly some cause for celebration -- adding jobs is always a good thing, of course -- we decided to take a bit deeper dive into the latest jobs figures.

Here's a different look at the broad unemployment numbers, including some reasons why we shouldn't get too excited about the latest data.

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As of April, there were 6.7 million Americans who had been unemployed for over 27 weeks, per the BLS. That's 45.9 percent of the jobless in the U.S.

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As of April, there were 6.7 million Americans who had been unemployed for over 27 weeks, per the BLS. That's 45.9 percent of the jobless in the U.S.

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Comments

[znamef]

05:17 PM on 04/09/2010

the spin never stops...does it?
bush and obama are cut from the same cloth.

of course, any voter, who can read at a solid grade school level knows the country has been sold
out to the rich elite who control the defense industries, banks, insurance companies, medicine, media.

they and their special interests have undue control over most politicians.

their power and money only begets more power and money.

as long as the voter thinks:

we are protecting our freedom by invading foreign countries based on lies.
that there is a dime's worth of difference between republicans or democrats.
that the fundamentals were good until obama.
we need more tax cuts and deregulation.
the best way to protect your 40k job is to make sure the rich get richer
that any real change can happen until the special interest corruption is expelled

then we will get more of the same.

[kizzie]

05:37 PM on 04/04/2010

Notice how no one ever has figures that show how many have totally dropped out of the job market due to unavailable jobs? Just because unemployment applications drop doesn't mean people have found work. some have been looking and trying for 2 years now.
As I've said over and over again, untill we bvring jobs back from toher countries, the economy cannot recover--period.

[debrajo99]

11:04 PM on 04/03/2010

I have to give him credit for something. He does have something new that we have never before seen in an American president,.

how does this fit in with his plans:

See transcript of radio interview below:
__________________________
The Warren Court wasn't that radical because:"" It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution""

..."the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society"

It (The Constitution) says what the states can’t do to you, it says what the federal government can’t do to you, but it doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2116149/posts
___________________________
get that last line

it doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf.

this is a fundamental flaw in our constitution.

[1088]

02:51 PM on 04/03/2010

The bar keeps on raising for President Obama! Can you imagine if this was President Bush accomplishment? It would be " JOY TO THE WORLD"! For President Obama, you failed!!

[billw8017]

05:46 PM on 04/03/2010

In the run up to the 2004 elections, President Bush's fans published list of over 20 of his accomplishments. These were often headed by his "Clear Skies" initiative which has since vanished in futility. He was praised for his "No Child Left Behind" Act which was subsequently defunded. Cutting the taxes of multi billionaires was supposed to make all of us richer. If it wasn't for the military contractors, his administration would have created no good paying jobs what so ever.

Now, we are told that adding 164k jobs in March is meaningless because most are temporary. Losing 780k jobs in January 2009 is meaningless since that happened in the Bush administration, but Obama is President and responsible now.

This is almost entirely correct except that almost a million jobs and a higher minimum wage are not meaningless. And, surprise! The billionaires are able to take care of themselves.

[Wingit]

06:13 PM on 04/03/2010

All jobs are temporary. Before the recession started, the average time someone spent at a job was between two and three years. An article in my local newspaper about job satisfaction showed a chart that indicated 45% of those now working are dissatisfied with their jobs.
The days of waiting around for twenty years for that gold watch are gone.

[1canview]

01:03 PM on 04/03/2010

Where are these new jobs going to come from? American ingenenuity?
Sales of ipods?
There are only so many ways peanut butter can go into a chocolate bar.
For the past 3 decades at least, very little has been created that is really new.
The obvious route is to rebuild the infrastructure of the US. And even that would that would end up with gouging and private profits.
Everything is going up in price. The oil speculators are ready again for another pound of flesh.
Minimum wage jobs are more and more the norm.
And after all that has happened nothing has been fixed to prevent it from happening again.
Corporate America has no intention of sharing the wealth.
The best thing that can happen is for China to come calling for its money.
When it all falls apart totally maybe people will wise up.
It is just amazing the ability many have to repeatedly get kicked in the teeth and take it.

[TJCole]

01:01 PM on 04/03/2010

Obama squandered his mandate for change and blew the greatest opportunity we'll ever have for it, and to take back our country from the corrupt banking system and culture...!

[cybexg]

01:44 PM on 04/03/2010

because he hasn't waved his magic wand and corrected all the evils in little more than a year???

[batmancw]

01:55 PM on 04/03/2010

Because he's done NOTHING to correct the underlying "evils" that caused the crash.

What hasn't yet been addressed is the underlying factors that are heading us toward a second, perhaps deeper crash---more mortgages, both commercial and residential are adjusting and going into default, bankruptcies are still at historic highs, Wall Street is STILL engaging in the risky trading practices that contributed to the crash, CC defaults are setting records, the Banks still aren't lending to small businesses, and the newest factor--the taxes that businesses will begin paying next year when Shrubya's cuts run out, and the new HC costs kick in, among others.

Here's Celente's thoughts on what may be coming: http://www.prisonplanet.com/gerald-celente-great-2010-crash-is-looming.html

So, yes, job growth is good, AND there's a LOT more than that that needs to be addressed or we'll likely be experiencing a "double dip" by this time next year.

Since Congress is owned by these factions, and any "reform" they pass will be laughable and full of loopholes--as the CC reform joke act was, BO can always use the Executive Order process he used to "fix" the HC Bill UNLESS he's "owned" by these factions as well. Since he's done nothing to address these problems except "lecture" the offenders, and he's had 14 months to take some type of REAL action, it would appear that he's been "bought off" as well.

[Rynox]

12:07 PM on 04/03/2010

Boo.

[lastep]

11:24 AM on 04/03/2010

shouldn't that sign be in the other direction?

[1088]

09:57 AM on 04/03/2010

Thank you President Obama for working tirelessly for the American people!!! You so called supporters can kiss my @&&!

[Istherereallyhope]

07:53 AM on 04/03/2010

Obama has done a wonderful job. 65% of the jobs created in March are part time. When will you folks realize that Obama policies SUCK?

[Wingit]

03:56 PM on 04/03/2010

Every recession, whether "dem" or "repub" follows the same pattern. Employment is the last metric to recover. When it starts, it begins with business first trying to increase productivity, then bringing on temporary workers, and then finally hiring permanent workers. As employment increases, demand for goods and services increases and the economy starts moving faster and faster to the upside. We are at the stage now where businesses are adding temp workers at a huge pace. It won't be long before the permanent hires will be increasing.

[Beg4Nothing]

03:26 AM on 04/03/2010

Teabaggers, those Census jobs were created by the Constitution.

[Pierpier]

02:52 AM on 04/03/2010

The recession had a name and that name is Bush
a depression it would have been had McCain been elected
GOPer President Hoover said in 1929 after the crash: "Fundemantals of Economy are fine"
29% unemployment in 1930 followed, (back then we didn't count the underemployed which would have been at over 60%)
In 1930 GOP obtained for an 8bln lease to Germany to be returned
Germany tanked
follows Hitler and WWII

Baggers talk about the current "failure" but I invite them to think anout what kind of far more tragic "failure" could have happened

The Bush recession and the Great McCain depression that never was and how we got out of it

Dec 07 Bush +70k
Jan 08 Bush -10k
Feb 08 Bush -40k
Mar 08 Bush -30k
Apr 08 Bush-150k
May 08 Bush-210k
Jun 08 Bush -190k
Jul 08 Bush -205k
Aug 08 Bush -315k
Sep 08 Bush -470k
Oct 08 Bush -560k
Nov 08 Bush -720k
Dec 08 Bush -680k
Jan 09 Bush/Obama -770k
THAT HOPEY CHANGEY THING
Feb 09 Obama -715k
Mar 09 Obama -750k
Apr 09 Obama -510k
May 09 Obama -390k
Jun 09 Obama -510k
Jul 09 Obama-340k
Aug 09 Obama-210k
Sep 09 Obama -220k
Oct 09 Obama-220k
Nov 09 Obama+60k
Dec 09 Obama -210k
Jan 10 Obama+10k
Feb 10 Obama -15k
Mar 10 Obama+170k

Put this on a graph and you will see a bell.
DOWN during Bush and
UP since Obama
spin,spin

[Zombie Slayer]

04:04 AM on 04/03/2010

How many of those jobs are temporary? In November, hiring goes up because of the holidays, but they get laid off when the season ends. Now the census; you do realize that the census is once every 10 years right?

How many of those jobs are government? Remember, government doesn't actually produce anything. It pays its employees through taxes that are siphoned from the private sector. It's merely transferring private sector jobs into the public sector, often at hugely uncompetitive salaries that reduce efficiency. Not that efficiency is government's main intention.

Just note this story about your census job creation: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/63671

Nice attempt at your own spin. Maybe you should look deeper than the surface.

[KidSampson]

04:52 AM on 04/03/2010

Those figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are seasonally adjusted to avoid just the kind of Christmas season skewing you are talking about.

[Rynox]

12:09 PM on 04/03/2010

The wonderful world of trends. You should wiki it.

[batmancw]

09:34 AM on 04/03/2010

The jobs growth is good and a positive factor.

What hasn't yet been addressed is the underlying factors that are heading us toward a second, perhaps deeper crash---more mortgages, both commercial and residential are adjusting and going into default, bankruptcies are still at historic highs, Wall Street is STILL engaging in the risky trading practices that contributed to the crash, CC defaults are setting records, the Banks still aren't lending to small businesses, and the newest factor--the taxes that businesses will begin paying next year when Shrubya's cuts run out, and the new HC costs kick in, among others.

Here's Celente's thoughts on what may be coming: http://www.prisonplanet.com/gerald-celente-great-2010-crash-is-looming.html

So, yes, job growth is good, AND there's a LOT more than that that needs to be addressed or we'll likely be experiencing a "double dip" by this time next year.

[Wingit]

06:27 PM on 04/03/2010

His predictions are about as good as Arch Crawford's, who uses astrology to predict the market. You know what they say about predictions; everybody's got one.
Try this link:

http://www.forbes.com/2003/03/07/cz_nh_0307adviser.html

[pjn14]

02:36 AM on 04/03/2010

All told, 60 percent - three out of five households in America - were receiving more government benefits and services (in dollar value) than they were paying back in taxes. The Tax Foundation estimates that President Obama's budget last year will raise this "net government inflow" from 60 to 70 percent. Look at it this way: three out of ten American families are supporting themselves plus - through government - supplying or supplementing the incomes of seven other households. As a permanent arrangement, this is individually unfair, politically inequitable, and economically dangerous.

[sandrasamnick]

02:28 AM on 04/03/2010

oops, baracks home country?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht1qeK3roU0

[Beercandyman]

05:22 PM on 04/08/2010

Rush Limbaugh gay?
http://pssht.com/biography/rush_limbaugh.html

[MillinMn]

01:56 AM on 04/03/2010

wonder how many of those information industry jobs that were cut were actually shipped overseas