Is There Room For Bullishness On Jobs Data?

The government on Friday is releasing its estimate of job growth and unemployment for January, providing another reading on the country's most urgent economic problem.

Most economists are forecasting that hiring picked up last month. The rate is now 9.4 percent, about twice what it was before the recession.

Speaking at the National Press Club on Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke again warned it will be several years before the U.S. unemployment rate returns to normal levels, but he said there are some positive signs.

"Looking at the whole range of statistics on the labor market, the sense is that employers are becoming more willing to hire, and I think we'll start seeing some stronger payroll reports and some lower unemployment rates pretty soon," he said.

Among those positive signs: lower initial claims for unemployment benefits. The latest report on initial claims, released Thursday, showed a steady downward trend continuing.

One factor holding down job growth in this recovery has been growth in productivity — that is, an increase in the amount a firm can produce with the same number of workers. The efficiency gains have been so great that the U.S. was able to return to its prerecession level of gross domestic product with about 7 million fewer workers on the job. A new report Thursday showed productivity growth accelerating.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/02/04/133480147/is-there-room-for-bullishness-on-jobs-data?ft=1&f=1003

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