THE MAIN POINT - US Employment Statistics
Ten Years of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
These statistics comprise the 14 major categories of non-farm employment data, compiled by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There is one characteristic of the charts below that is apparent. They all have very different patterns.
While there are clearly some downturns in the last quarter, there are upturns also. In the categories where there are downturns, there have been downturns for some time (e.g. Manufacturing).
Even a glance at these charts indicates that one should use caution when trying to attibute a long term trend to the last quarter's data.
In the coming weeks, we will drill down into finer categories to determine whether pre-conceived notions hold true.
Overall Structure of the Charts
The charts show the quarterly change in seasonally adjusted employment. That is, the numbers represented by the vertical axis are the change in employment from the previous quarter.
When you see a positive bar, it means that employment increased. When you see a negative bar, it means that employment is decreasing.
When you see a series of positive bars whose height is decreasing, it means that the rate of increase in employment is going down, NOT that employment is going down. When you see a series of negative bars, whose size is decreasing, it means that the rate of decrease is decreasing.
Major Observations
- There were significant employment declines underway prior to the 9/11/2001 attacks. In almost all cases, (except leisure & hospitality and transportation), the rate of decrease in employment was falling. In other words, the economy was improving despite the attacks.
- Government increase in employment has been continuing unabated for the ten years of these graphs.
- Health care and education employment increases have been continuing for the ten years of these charts.
- Construction employment began decreasing in 2006 and accelerated in 2007, long before it got much attention in the media.
- Manufacturing declines in employment is nothing new. During the last ten years, it has only increased in four quarters.
The Fourteen Categories of Employment Statistics
- Natural Resources - mining, oil & gas exploration/extraction, coal mining.
- Construction - commercial, residential construction, infrastructure and utility construction.
- Manufacturing - durable and non-durable manufacturing but no farming.
- Wholesale Trade - trade of all manufactured items.
- Retail Trade - trade of all manufactured items.
- Transportation and Warehousing - airlines, air, sea, rail & trucking freight and inventory storage.
- Utilities - all electrical power generation, water and sewer.
- Information - newspapers, book publishing, telecommunications, motion pictures, radio, and television, cable, internet and data processing.
- Financial Activities - finance, insurance, banking, credit cards, mortgages and securities brokerage.
- Professional and Business Services - legal, accounting, architecture, building and home services, computer systems design, management and technical consulting, science, veterinary, employment and waste services, travel services, and security services.
- Education and Healthcare - schools and universities, hospitals, physicians practices, clinics, and medical labs.
- Leisure and Hospitality - lodging and food services, arts, entertainment, sports, museums, amusment parks, gambling.
- Other Services - automotive and other repair, laundry services, personal care, funeral, membership associations, unions.
- Government - federal, state and local government.
