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Weekly Wrap: The April jobs report
Reviewing the week's headlines on Wall Street and beyond.
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Catherine Rampell of the New York Times and Sudeep Reddy of the Wall Street Journal discuss the latest U.S. jobs report.
Catherine Rampell: Six months ago, this is about where we were, actually. for the last couple of years, and this year included, the year starts out with relatively strong growth, and then it kind of peters out. Obviously, 115,000 jobs added is better than 115,000 jobs lost, but that's like saying, 'it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.'
Sudeep Reddy: You have to remember in January 2009 -- the worst month for the job market that we've seen in a long time -- the economy lost 818,000 jobs in a single month. So we're far, far, far away from that kind of disastrous performance. We've settled into this new period of persistent mediocrity in a way; we're barely treading water. And it seems to be continuing at this same pace. It just doesn't leave much hope for people who are looking for work and on the sidelines.
For more analysis, listen to the audio above.
Great story. However after listening to other programs on KPCC today - it makes me wonder. Yeah. So the job numbers are as they are. But what about wages??? One reported on a program her wage is cut 28% !!!! So looking at the economy as a whole. Shouldn't we factor in how much is actually being earned? The economy will only get rolling if the general consumer has money to spend. With 28% pay cuts - furloughs and what's not - the income pool seems to be in a not so desireable shape. No?
