Lackluster Job and Wage Growth

In the employment report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that employment in October was only 56,000 jobs higher than in September, which is below the rate needed to account for increases in population (~150,000 jobs created per month). The unemployment rate dropped slightly to 5.0 percent. Since August 2001 (when the unemployment rate was 4.9%), only one month (August 2005 with an unemployment rate of 4.9%) has seen a national unemployment rate of below 5%. Employment growth has been slow since the recession in 2001, barely (if at all) keeping up with growth in the labor force. The August employment growth number was reduced from it's original preliminary estimate and the September employment growth was revised to a loss of 8,000 jobs. Wages in October increased at the highest rate in almost 2 years, but that is because they have been growing incredibly slowly for this point in an economic recovery (by historical standards) and for the year as a whole, wages have increased by 3 percent, while the inflation rate is 4 percent meaning that the real wage has actually fallen by 1 percent this year. But that's a Bush recovery (remember 1991?).