Say Anything Blog

Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer

I guess the Dems will have to wait a little longer for their hoped-for “recession”.

Employers Boost Payrolls by 94,000; Jobless Rate Holds Steady at 4.7 Percent

WASHINGTON (AP)—Employers added a modest 94,000 jobs to their payrolls in November, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent and wages grew briskly, encouraging signs the nation’s employment climate is holding up in the face of turbulence in the housing and credit markets.

The fresh snapshot of the labor market, released by the Labor Department on Friday, showed that hiring was brisk in education and health services, retail, professional services, the government and elsewhere. That helped to offset job losses in construction, manufacturing and financial services—casualties of the housing slump and credit crunch.

The 94,000 new jobs in November came after a surprisingly strong payroll gain of 170,000 in October. The unemployment rate stayed at a relatively low 4.7 percent for the third straight month.

“This is reassuring. The pillar continuing to support the economy is job creation,” said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at LaSalle Bank. “This should provide reassurance to those who worry that a recession is imminent,” he said.

The performance was better than economists were expecting. They were forecasting that the unemployment rate would nudge up to 4.8 percent and they also said they thought employers would boost payrolls by around 70,000.

The health of the nation’s job market is a key factor determining whether the economy will survive stresses from the housing collapse and credit crunch.

Job and wage growth have been shock absorbers, helping individuals to cope with all the negative forces in the economy. The mostly sturdy employment climate has helped to support spending by individuals, a major shaper of overall economic activity.

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Read the whole thing.  AP can’t resist looking for bad news, but the reality is unmistakeable.  Even though there are negatives, the positives outweigh them.  This is the nature of the free enterprise system: it is self-adjusting.