WASHINGTON — U.S. employers advertised more jobs in June compared with the previous month, but overall hiring fell, painting a mixed picture of the job market. The number of jobs posted on the last day in June jumped 9.6% to 5.9 million, the Labor Department said Monday, a solid gain but still...
US Adds 145,000 Jobs; Unemployment Holds at 3.5%
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added 145,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.5%, signaling that the job market remains strong at the start of 2020 even if hiring and wage gains have slowed somewhat more than a decade into an economic expansion. Friday’s snapshot from the...
Walters: Bait and Switch on Pensions
Local officials, particularly those in California’s 400-plus cities, have been complaining loudly in recent years about pension costs, raising the specter of insolvency if they continue their rapid increase. Last year, the League of California Cities issued a report declaring that “pension costs will dramatically increase to unsustainable levels.” The California Public...
US Gains a Robust 266,000 Jobs; Unemployment Falls to 3.5%
WASHINGTON — Friday’s November jobs report will provide insight into whether steady hiring remains a source of strength for the U.S. economy even as the Trump administration’s trade conflicts have heightened uncertainties for employers. Economists have forecast that the government will report that employers remained confident enough to add a...
US Added a Solid 128,000 Jobs in October Despite GM Strike
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added a solid 128,000 jobs in October, a figure that was held down by a now-settled strike against General Motors that caused tens of thousands of workers to be temporarily counted as unemployed. The unemployment rate ticked up from 3.5% to 3.6%, still near a five-decade...
US Job Openings Slip 1.7% in August as Labor Market Slows
WASHINGTON — U.S. job openings fell 1.7% in August and hires edged down, bolstering views that the labor market may lose momentum as economic uncertainty and a manufacturing recession squeeze employers. The Labor Department says employers advertised 7.1 million available jobs in August, down from 7.2 million available jobs in...
US Adds 136K Jobs, Unemployment Dips to 5-Decade Low
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy added a modest 136,000 jobs in September, a gain that managed to help lower the unemployment rate to a new five-decade low of 3.5% but also suggested rising caution among employers. The additional hiring and the drop in the jobless rate will likely ease worries...
California Unemployment Rate Held Steady at 4.1% in August
SACRAMENTO — California's unemployment rate held steady at the record low of 4.1% in August as the state's period of job gains reached 114 months, exceeding the expansion of the 1960s. The California Employment Development Department says Friday the state's employers added 34,500 nonfarm payroll jobs last month. The rate...
US Hiring Slow but Steady Amid Trade War and Global Weakness
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added a modest 130,000 jobs in August, a sign that hiring has slowed but remains durable in the face of global economic weakness and President Donald Trump's trade war with China. The unemployment rate remained 3.7% for a third straight month, the Labor Department said Friday, near the...
ICE Raids Raise Question: What About the Employers?
HOUSTON — The images of children crying after their parents were arrested in a massive immigration raid in Mississippi revived a longstanding complaint: Unauthorized workers are jailed or deported, while the managers and business owners who profit from their labor often go unprosecuted. Under President Donald Trump, the number of business owners...