Net Job Creation through December 2014

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on non-farm employment indicated that 252,000 jobs were added in December, November and October were revised up by a total of 50,000. The three month moving average (3MMA) of gains in December was second only to November as the highest since May 2010 at 289,000. This job recovery is stronger than was the case in the mid-2000s, (Figure 1). Total non-farm payrolls are now 1,982,000 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 nine months the 3MMA has exceeded 200,000 per month and in 2014 as a whole 2,952,000 jobs were created. All numbers in this analysis are seasonally adjusted by the BLS.