As I just wrote, the world economy is in the dumper.
Well, this here might be why; via HotAir.com:
Looks like the 2015Q4 GDP results told a broader story than some credited. The Associated Press called the results from today’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report “a sharp deceleration from recent months” (later removing “sharp” from that description), paralleling the sharper deceleration of production. The US economy added only 151,000 jobs, a miss on expectations and barely enough to tread water on population expansion:
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 151,000 in January, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in several industries, led by retail trade, food services and drinking places, health care, and manufacturing. Employment declined in private educational services, transportation and warehousing, and mining.
Numerous news services heralded the a drop in U-3 rate of unemployment to 4.9%, but the number of people not in the workforce also rose by 360,000 people from last month (table A-16). That follows an increase of 284,000 the previous month. Those not in the labor force who want a job increased by 461,000, and that follows an increase of 379,000 in the previous month. The latter measure had been falling in 2015, but has reversed itself by 840,000 in two months — both in the 0.7%-growth-rate Q4. [see update above]
Needless to say, this leaves the workforce participation rates near their historic lows:
After accounting for the annual adjustments to the population controls, the civilian labor force and total employment, as measured by the household survey, were little changed in January. The labor force participation rate, at 62.7 percent, was little changed. The employment-population ratio (59.6 percent) changed little over the month but was up by 0.3 percentage point since October.
The U-3 rate dipped down to 4.9%, but that appears to be a rounding issue more than a significant shift. The broader U-6 rate remained at 9.9%, where it has been for three straight months after briefly dipping down to 9.8% in October. For comparison, October was the first time since May 2008 that U-6 scored under double digits, and the U-3 rate in May 2008 was 5.4% while the workforce participation rates were 66.1% and 62.5%, respectively.
My apologies to the gang at HotAir.com for quoting the crap out of their article. But, this is warranted. There’s more:
Update (Steve Eggleston): I have a couple quick points. First, on the “not in labor force” front, it is a seasonal phenomenon related to year-end retirements, and in the case of January, the implementation of new population controls. While the 360,000 additional people not in the workforce compared to December (on a not-seasonally-adjusted basis) is a larger add than the last couple years, it is actually lower than the average December-to-January change since 2000.
The future isn’t very bright. The January Challenger report released yesterday noted that announced job cuts surged to 75,114, the highest monthly total since July 2015 and the highest January total since 2009. The report also noted that there were 8,362 announced hiring plans last month, the 2nd-lowest January total going back to 2011.
Donald Trump might be a bit too populist for some and might be seen as a loose cannon by many. However, there is one thing that he is absolutely right about and that is that we are not on a good path as a Nation and because of that, we are dragging the World economy down with us. Something has to change and there are many disagreements about what is to change and how it is to change. However, the one clear fact that I believe everyone can and will agree on is that the path that we have been on, in this Country, for these may years, dating back to the beginning of the George W. Bush Administration and maybe even the Bill Clinton Administration; cannot continue. Otherwise, the United States of America is going to find itself in a very bad place.
Here is hoping that there are people elected that can figure this out and make the needed changes, without causing many innocent people to suffer as a result.