Economy
December 6, 2014
Steel Production Not Where it Should be in this Stage of the Economic Recovery
Written by Peter Wright
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on non-farm employment indicated that 321,000 jobs were added in November, October and September were revised up by a total of 44,000. The three month moving average (3MMA) of gains was the highest since May 2010 at 278,000. This job recovery is stronger than was the case in the mid-2000s, (Figure 1) and to give a bit more perspective Figure 2 shows results since 1960, it is clear that it is taking longer after each recession for the total employed to recover to the pre-recession high.
Total non-farm payrolls are now 1,680,000 more than they were at the pre-recession high of January 2008. November was the first time ever for total non-farm employment to exceed 140 million. In each of the last eight months the 3MMA has exceeded 200,000 per month and in the first ten months of 2014 has averaged 227,000. All numbers in this analysis are seasonally adjusted by the BLS.
