U.S. jobs – stabilizing at last

By Prieur du Plessis, on April 3rd, 2010 posted in: Economy, Investment

As announced by the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday, payroll employment increased by 162,000 in March, recording the largest increase in three years.

Chart of the Day provides a handy chart to put the labor situation in perspective by comparing job losses following the beginning of the current economic recession (solid red line) to that of the last recession (dashed gold line) and the average recession from 1950-1999 (dashed blue line).

“As the chart illustrates, the current job market has suffered losses that are more than triple as much as what occurs at the lows of the average recession/job loss cycle,” said Chart of the Day. “It is also worth noting that previous job market declines did not tend to end abruptly but rather flattened out before moving back into an expansionary phase. Today’s relatively positive jobs report provides an early indication that the current job market is moving from a phase of stabilization to that of expansion.”

Until such time as the credit machine starts working again – in particular as loans to small business are concerned – do not expect the employment curve to pick up in a hurry.