Posts by mark price

Good News on PA Jobs But Challenges Remain

Posted by Mark Price on May 17, 2013 5:46 pm
Posted in:

Pennsylvania got some good news Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics as the state’s unemployment rate fell three-tenths of one percentage point to 7.6% in April. It is the lowest unemployment rate in Pennsylvania since March of last year — although it is still slightly higher than the U.S. unemployment rate.

Unemployment in PA and US

Pennsylvania Job Growth Continues to Slide

Posted by Mark Price on May 3, 2013 9:02 am
Posted in:

Acknowledging complexity in economic and jobs data always runs a certain risk. I was reminded of that this week when I spoke with a reporter at PoliticsPA about Pennsylvania’s job growth during Governor Corbett’s administration. After spending an hour on the phone with the reporter laying out the data, the resulting story largely missed the forest for the trees.

Radio Podcast: Workers Drop Out of the Labor Market

Posted by Mark Price on April 18, 2013 11:07 am
Posted in:

I was on Minnesota Public Radio this week with journalist Heidi Moore to provide some context on jobs and the state of the American economy. Listen to the full show at the player below.

U.S. Job Growth Continues to Disappoint in March

Nonfarm payrolls grew by 88,000 in March while the unemployment rate stood at 7.6%, little changed from the month before, according to a report this morning from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bill McBride at Calculated Risk wrote Thursday that the consensus forecast was for an increase in nonfarm payrolls of 193,000 and for the unemployment rate to hold steady at 7.7%.

New Data on Natural Gas-related Employment in PA

Posted by Mark Price on March 28, 2013 12:41 pm
Posted in:

This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages for the third quarter of 2012. This means we can expect shortly a new version of Marcellus Fast Facts for Pennsylvania from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. While we wait for that new release, here is a quick preview of what the new data say.

PA's Unemployment Rate Drops as More Job Seekers Drop Out

Posted by Mark Price on March 22, 2013 5:07 pm
Posted in:

Today, the Corbett administration released jobs data for February, and to answer your next question, yes, they did just release January jobs data on March 8. The release schedule gets a little delayed and then compressed at the beginning of each New Year as the Bureau of Labor Statistics revises data through a process called benchmarking.

So on to the numbers: Pennsylvania unemployment fell one-tenth of one percentage point to 8.1% in February. As I explained this morning, with employment growth weak and labor force growth strong, the state's unemployment rate has been rising since last March. Well half of that equation changed this month as employment as measured in the household survey fell by 6,000, and the labor force also fell by 13,000. As a result, the number of unemployed fell, and the unemployment rate fell very slightly. 

Podcast: As More People Look for Work in PA, There Are Not Enough Jobs to Be Had

Posted by Mark Price on March 22, 2013 8:30 am
Posted in:

I was recently asked whether growth in the Pennsylvania labor market in recent months was a positive sign for the state's economy. It is a welcome sign, but as I explain in this two-minute podcast, there are fewer and fewer new job openings available for these new job seekers. And that has driven up the state's unemployment rate.

A Mixed Bag for Pennsylvania's January Jobs Report

Posted by Mark Price on March 12, 2013 10:43 am
Posted in:

A few minutes before 5 p.m. on Friday, the Corbett administration released new data on the state's employment situation in January. The picture that emerged from the data was mixed.

On the one hand, the unemployment rate climbed by three-tenths of a percentage point to 8.2%, while the number of unemployed climbed by 18,000. On the other hand, nonfarm payrolls had a better month than typical with payrolls over the month climbing by 5,200 jobs. 

Wealth Inequality Will Keep Growing Unless Workers Demand Better

Posted by Mark Price on March 6, 2013 11:58 am
Posted in:

I have an op-ed on The Guardian's web site today examining the problem that we all face in today's economy: income inequality. Give it a read.

With the President Promising to Reduce Inequality, the Devil Will Be in the Details

We were hoping to hear President Obama in his State of the Union address underline his commitment to taking on our greatest short- and long-term challenges: persistent high unemployment and rapidly growing inequality.