Applications for unemployment were down in December 2010 and again in January 2011. In January 2011, applications were at their lowest rate since 2008, according to the Labor Department.
The decrease in the number of applications was a sign of job growth. Unemployment applications need to dip even further to signify a real decline in the actual unemployment rate, reports Daily Finance.
Normal unemployment rates when the economy is not in recession are about 5%. At the height of the recession, rates soared to over 10%. As of January 2011, rates are about 9%. Almost twice the number of people are unemployed now than before the recession hit.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said it will take years to return to normal employment rates. Unemployment is taking a toll on consumer spending, which is the lowest it has been in over 50 years.
The Federal Open Market Committee said the economy’s recovery is still not enough to greatly improve the labor market. The bureau of Labor and Statistics reported that the rise in employment came in the manufacturing and retail industries. The construction, transportation and warehousing industries lost jobs. Other industries remained mostly unchanged. Job loses in the transportation industry were blamed on an increase in hiring before holidays to meet customer demands.
January unemployment figures are the lowest since 2008. There was also improvement in long-term unemployment (people unemployed for 27 weeks or more). The National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) reports that 36,000 new jobs were added in the US in January. New employment figures released March 4, 2011.
“The sharp drop bodes well for February job creation,” said economist Ellen Beeson Zentner at Bank of Tokyo, Mitsubishi, reported Daily Finance. Storms were blamed for shutting businesses down temporarily in many parts of the country in January, causing applications to increase temporarily.