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Blog Entries from May 2011

April Job Numbers Soar High Above Private-Sector Expectations

Submitted on May 6, 2011 - 12:05pm

Nonfarm businesses boosted payrolls by 244,000 jobs in April, significantly exceeding consensus private-sector expectations of 185,000 jobs.  The growth came as private-sector firms added 268,000 jobs, the strongest one-month gain in half a decade.  Indeed, private-sector employment is rising this year at a strong 2.4-percent annual rate, putting 2011’s growth pace on track to be the fastest since 1999.  Partly offsetting private-sector gains were continued cutbacks by state and local governments, with overall government employment down by 24,000 over the month of April.

April Jobs Report: The Impact of Education and Age on Manufacturing Employment

Submitted on May 6, 2011 - 9:07am

Before getting into the numbers from today's employment release (check back for the forthcoming blog post on them), I want to dig a little deeper into the underlying data and examine what has been happening to a critical sector of the U.S. economy—manufacturing. 

Car or Truck? Why Gas Prices Help Drive Car Sales

Submitted on May 5, 2011 - 3:04pm
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Not surprisingly, rising gasoline prices can affect motor vehicle buying behavior.1  And lately, prices have been rising fast.  Based on daily estimates from the American Automobile Association (AAA), regular gasoline prices jumped again in April, following a string of increases that started in July of 2010. Over this same time period, the auto share of total light vehicle sales has been trending up.

  • 1. See Wall Street Journal article on gasoline prices and car sales from May 4th.