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Text size [+][-]  Saturday November 21 2009GLOBAL EDITION

Considered view
06 Nov 2009 17:42

Dangerously productive

By Martin Hutchinson

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US nonfarm employment declined 190,000 in October, according to the monthly employment report released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on November 6. The job loss figures for August and September, however, were revised down to 154,000 and 219,000, respectively.

The unemployment rate rose from 9.8% to 10.2%, the highest since 1983. The post-World War II peak was 10.8% in November 1982.

7.3m jobs have been lost since December 2007 compared with 2.1m in 2001-02, 1.7m in 1990-91, 2.0m in 1981-82 and 2.0m in 1974-75.

Employment in construction declined 62,000, while manufacturing employment declined by 61,000 and retail trade employment by 40,000. Healthcare employment increased by 29,000; other sectors were largely unchanged.

The BLS said on November 5 that US nonfarm labour productivity increased at a 9.5% annual rate in the third quarter of 2009 after a 6.9% annual rate of increase in the second quarter.






US unemployment has reached 10.2% in spite of a growing economy. Meanwhile, productivity is surging. That’s normal in recoveries, but it began early and may continue. If so, jobs may be slow to return and unemployment could reach a record, weakening banks and depressing wages.

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