Employment Index Contradicts Government Data

From Consumer Reports: Employment Index Contradicts Govt. Data

Although unemployment data released last Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics paints a pessimistic picture of the state of jobs in the U.S., the Employment Index indicates more jobs were lost than gained in the last 30 days. The Employment Index examines the change in employment of those that reported starting a new job, compared to those that have lost their job or were laid off in the past 30 days. An index below 50 indicates more jobs were lost than gained, while a score more than 50 indicates more jobs were gained than lost in the past 30 days.

In September, the Employment Index improved from 48 to 50.3, resulting from the decline in reported job losses in the past 30 days, reflecting August 2009, and an increase of those reporting starting a new job in this period.

However, the August unemployment rate jumped from 9.4% to 9.7%, and the total number of unemployed persons rose from about 14.43 million to 14.9 million. In addition, the civilian labor force participation rate, which is the proportion of the non-institutionalized civilian population age 16 and older serving in the labor force, remained flat at 65.5%. Meanwhile, the employment-population ratio, which measures the ratio of employed persons to the total non-institutionalized civilian population age 16 and older, dropped from 59.4% to 59.2%.

The Consumer Reports Index, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, is a monthly telephone poll of a nationally representative probability sample of telephone households. Interviewing of 1,009 adults aged 18-plus was completed between August 27-30, 2009. The margin of error is +/- 3.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.