ndustryWeek (12/6, Fehrenbach) reported the manufacturing sector added 27,000 jobs in November, according to the Labor Department. The increase was the “sector’s largest monthly gain since March 2012 and was consistent with production increases posted since the beginning of the third quarter,” Chad Moutray, Chief Economist of the National Association of Manufacturers blog in the Shopfloor (12/9) blog.
McClatchy (12/6, Hall) reported the manufacturing “sector had powered recovery in late 2011 and early 2012 but then went slack.” Moutray blogged, “This is definitely an encouraging sign, particularly given the hesitance of many business leaders of late to add new workers given uncertainties in the market. In fact, with these job gains, manufacturing employment has pierced the 12 million mark since April 2009.”
USA Today (12/7, Davidson) reported Moutray says manufacturers are responding to an increase “in industrial output as Europe climbs out of recession and the effects of federal budget cuts and tax increases fade.”
The Bankrate (12/6, Hamrick) “Economics Blog” reported Moutray also wrote, “It is important to note that there continues to be some degree of hesitance to bring on new workers.” Moutray added, “This will keep hiring gains only modest at best, at least until uncertainties in the marketplace are removed or when demand picks up sufficiently to warrant it.”
The Wall Street Journal (12/6, Mitchell) “Real Time Economics” blog also quoted Moutray.
The Washington Times (12/6, Hill) reported the unemployment rate fell from 7.3 percent in October to 7 percent last month.
NBC Nightly News called it “positive news” and said the “five-year low” is “down from a peak of 10% four years ago.”
NBC News added, “Employers added more than 200,000 jobs for each of the last four months. And in November, many were good-paying jobs: 40,000 in education and healthcare” and “17,000 construction jobs.”
ABC World News reported the numbers were “better than experts predicted,” with unemployment at “the lowest level since President Obama took office.”
The New York Times (12/7, Schwartz, Subscription Publication) reported, “After years of frustrating fits and starts after the financial crisis and the Great Recession, the American job market finally appears to be on a path of steady but sustainable improvement.” The “better-than-expected report from the Labor Department on Friday follows other hopeful economic indicators this week, including an upward revision for economic growth in the third quarter on Thursday and an uptick in manufacturing reported on Monday.
The Los Angeles Times (12/7, Puzzanghera) called it “a surprisingly robust gain in new jobs.”
But the Wall Street Journal (12/7, Shah, Sparshott, Subscription Publication) said even with the gains, the economy is 1.3 million jobs short of a 2008 peak, with nearly 11 million Americans still unemployed.
The CBS Evening News, the Washington Post, (12/7, Hicks) Politico (12/7, Lee), The Hill (12/7, Needham), the AP (12/7),Bloomberg News (12/7, Kearns, Saraiva), Reuters (12/7, Mutikani) and other media sources.
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