151,000 jobs created in October, but unemployment stays at 9.6 percent
151,000 jobs created in October, but unemployment stays at 9.6 percent
TEXT OF INTERVIEW
STEVE CHIOTAKIS: The economy added 151,000 jobs in October. Analysts expected a much smaller gain. But the percentage of people out of work didn’t move. The unemployment rate remains at 9.6 percent, according to the latest Labor Department report.
With some analysis on what the report says, let’s bring in Jill Schlesinger, editor at large for CBS/MoneyWatch. She’s with us every Friday, live from New York. Good morning Jill.
JILL SCHLESINGER: Good morning?
CHIOTAKIS: Who’s creating these jobs?
SCHLESINGER: We’ve got temporary services, retail sector and the health care sector continues to keep creating jobs throughout the economy.
CHIOTAKIS: And private employment. The private sector is what, 159,000 for the month.
SCHLESINGER: Yeah and that was a great number. More than twice the expected.
CHIOTAKIS: How can we have created so many jobs, yet the unemployment rate hasn’t budged at all?
SCHLESINGER: This drives people crazy. There are actually two separate surveys which are calculated differently. Just think about this: we need about 200,000 jobs a month to really put a dent into the overall unemployment rate.
CHIOTAKIS: And what about the report as a whole. Is it all good news?
SCHLESINGER: It’s not all good. We actually have that long term unemployed — those folks who have been out of work for more than 27 weeks — there’s still 6.2 million of those people. That’s nearly 42 percent of all unemployed persons. And frankly, the temporary retail jobs — those could vanish pretty quickly. So a little bit of concern but mostly really good.
CHIOTAKIS: Jill Schlesinger at CBS/MoneyWatch, thanks.
SCHLESINGER: Thanks a lot.
Be sure to check out Jill Schlesinger’s blog.
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