Employment Reports Suggest Losses Have Moderated

By MDM Staff

November 9, 2009

More about: Economy

Average employment declines are smaller than they were six months ago.

Employment reports show that employment continued to decline in October but the losses have moderated somewhat.

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 190,000 in the U.S. for the month. In the past three months, job losses have averaged 188,000 per month, compared with losses averating 357,000 per month in the prior three months.

Construction employment decreased by 62,000 in October. Monthly job losses have

averaged 67,000 during the most recent six months, compared with an average decline of 117,000 during the prior six months. October job losses were concentrated in nonresidential specialty trade contractors (-30,000) and in heavy construction (-14,000). Since December 2007, employment in construction has fallen by 1.6 million.

Manufacturing continued to shed jobs (-61,000) in October, with losses in both durable and nondurable goods production. Over the past four months, job losses in manufacturing have averaged 51,000 per month, compared with an average monthly loss of 161,000 from October 2008 through June 2009. Manufacturing employment has fallen by 2.1 million since December 2007.

Wholesale trade lost 8,400 jobs in October; most of those jobs were in durable goods, with a decrease of 7,400.

More details on U.S. employment for October can be found here.

Canada Employment Reports

In Canada in October, employment fell by 31,000 in retail and wholesale trade and by 20,000 in "other services." Employment also declined in natural resources, down 11,000, continuing a downward trend that began in February 2009, according to Statistics Canada.

While manufacturing employment was little changed in October, losses since the employment peak in October 2008 have totaled 218,000 (-11%).

Construction employment edged up in October, building on gains observed over the previous two months. Despite these recent increases, employment in this industry has fallen 5.8% (-73,000) since October 2008.

Transportation and warehousing, was the only industry to experience a notable employment gain in October (+22,000). Overall, employment in this sector has fallen by 51,000 (-5.8%) since October 2008.

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