August NFP Dropped by 54,000

According to the US Labor Department, nonfarm payrolls dropped by 54,000 in August, however, analysts anticipated sharper decline. The US jobless rate remains steady at 9.6%. The US dollar sharply dropped shortly after Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report. Employment in private-sector payroll surged by 67,000, - official figures show. For instance, in July 2010 overall payrolls declined by 131,000 and payrolls in private sector rose 71,000.

Average earnings per hour rose by 0.2% or 3 cents to $19.08 while experts had expected 0.1% surge. The average workweek remained unchanged at 34.2 hours.

Yesterday the market moved up as ECB raised economic forecast in Euro-zone for 2010 and 2011. However, the European refinancing rate remained unchanged at a record low of 1%.

Planned Layoffs Drop to 2-Year Minimum

The official data on planned job cuts in the USA were announced today. The December figures show the US economic activity began rising.

In December employers declared 45,094 planned layoffs, the lowest reading since December 2007. This figure is 73 percent lower than the reading in December 2008 with its 166,348 layoffs, the official research showed. In the second half of 2009 the employers fired their workers 56 percent lower than in the first half. After the second quarter of 2009 the US economy saw signs of recovery and the situation on the job market improved.

National US unemployment, the key indiator showing the sate of economy, decreased to a seasonally adjusted 10% in November from the 26-year high of 10.2 percent in October. The rate had increased for 12 out of the previous 13 months before November 2009. Analysts expect the national rate to edge up to 10.1% when the US Labor Department releases its December jobs report this Friday.

US Unemployment Declines to 10%

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US jobless rate dropped to 10 percent level in November from 10.2 percent in October. These figures show that the US job market is getting out recession, however, significant obstacles remain. In November employers fired 11,000 workers, far below prior expectations of 150,000, Bureau of Labor`s figures show. The strong improvement surprised analysts, mentioning that the US job market still remains weak, however, moves into right direction.

The highest degree of employed people was seen in business and professional services adding 86.000 jobs. Employment in healthcare and education showed signs of recovery, while construction and manufacturing industry delivered 27.000 and 41.000 monthly job losses correspondently. However, there are still over 15 mln people unemployed in the USA, this number is twice bigger than before the recession started in 2007.

President Barack Obama called this data “good news” and promised to continue carrying out his programs aiming at hiring people.

After the official report the US Dollar spectacularly appreciated versus other Forex currencies.

Economists Predict Us Jobless Rate to Hit 13% Level

The unemployment rate may shortly rise to 13 percent level, the highest level since World War II, David Rosenberg, an economist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates Inc.

This prediction was made after the US Department of Labor released negative unemployment figures showing that the US jobless rate, one of the most important economic indicators, unexpectedly hit the level of 10.2 percent. David Rosenberg gave an interview to Bloomberg news agency. In this interview he said that “this is going to be the mother of all jobless recoveries.” He also noted: “At the beginning of the year, who was calling for unemployment to go up to 10 percent?”

In the near future joblessness rate has all the prerequisites to reach the 13 percent level. The rate of 13 percent would be the highest since monthly records started in January 1948. Previously postwar maximum was 10.8 percent in 1982. During the Great Depression in 1933 unemployment jumped nearly to 25 percent.

Besides, the under-employment rate, including part-time workers who would prefer a full-time post, and people who would like to work and have given up looking, hit 17.5 percent last month, the maximum reading since records started in 1994.