News Tag: Labor Department
March 17, 2010
The US Labor Department has today reported a fall in producer prices of 0.6% in February - the biggest fall since July 2009.
The fall, which was worse than expected, was attributed to a 2.9% decline in energy costs.
Compared to February 2009, producer prices grew 4.4%, but they slowed from a 4.6% annualised rise in January and was slightly below ...
US producer prices in February fall
by Kay Murchie
February 19, 2010
Official data has revealed US consumer prices rose by a slower-than-expected 0.2% in January.
On an annual basis, prices were up 2.6% - also below expectations.
The increase was the result of a hike in energy prices, which rose for the ninth month in a row. Over the last year, energy prices have soared 19.1%, said the Labor Department.
Meanwhile, excluding volatile ...
US consumer prices up 0.2% in January
by Kay Murchie
February 5, 2010
The Labor Department has today revealed that the US unemployment rate fell from 10% in December to 9.7% in January - its lowest level in five months.
According to the Labor Department, employers cut 20,000 jobs last month - many analysts had predicted the economy to add jobs.
US President Barack Obama has pledged to make job creation his top priority.
Meanwhile, the ...
US unemployment rate falls to 9.7%
by Kay Murchie
January 21, 2010
The Commerce Department has revealed a fall in housing starts for the month of December but building permits rose.
According to the Commerce Department, construction of new US homes fell 4% during the month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 557,000 properties. The fall was primarily due to bad weather which hit most of the country.
Meanwhile, applications for ...
US housing starts fall, producer prices up
by Kay Murchie
January 8, 2010
Figures published today by the US Labor Department revealed that the world’s largest economy lost more jobs than expected in December.
Today's figures means the unemployment rate remains at 10%.
US employers cut 85,000 jobs in the month, surprising analysts after the economy added 4,000 jobs, rather than the initial estimate of losing 11,000 jobs during November.
The majority of the job losses were ...
US job losses rise in December
by Kay Murchie
December 4, 2009
Figures published today by the Labor Department revealed that the US economy lost fewer jobs in November with the unemployment rate falling to 10% from a rate of 10.2% in October.
Figures show that US employers cut the lowest number of jobs during the month since the onset of the recession two years ago.
The world’s largest economy lost only 11,000 jobs ...
US unemployment rate falls in November
by Kay Murchie
October 20, 2009
The recovery in the US was thrown into doubt today after the Commerce Department revealed housing start figures for the month of September.
While construction of new US homes rose during the month, it was below economists’ expectations.
According to the Commerce Department, construction of new US homes rose 0.5% during the month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 590,000 properties ...
US housing starts rise, producer prices fall
by Kay Murchie
September 4, 2009
The Labor Department has today revealed that the US unemployment rate has hit a 26-year high of 9.7% - analysts had been expecting a rise to 9.5%.
Figures show that 216,000 jobs were lost in August in the world’s largest economy and since the start of the recession in December 2007, the economy has lost 6.9 million jobs and there are currently ...
US unemployment rate at 26-year high
by Kay Murchie
August 20, 2009
Government figures released today revealed a shock rise in the number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits.
The Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits rose 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 576,000 in the week ending August 15, up from 561,000 the previous week.
Linda Duessel, market strategist at Federated Investors in Pittsburgh, said: "I think that ...
US jobless claims in surprise rise
by Kay Murchie
July 14, 2009
The Commerce Department today announced a rise in US retail sales in June of 0.6% and follows on from the increase of 0.5% in May. Analysts had forecast a rise of 0.4% for the month.
Sales were driven by higher petrol costs, cars and car parts, when stripping out these items, sales declined 0.2% - the fourth consecutive fall.
In related ...
US retail sales up for second straight month
by Kay Murchie
July 2, 2009
Figures from the US Labor Department have revealed that the unemployment rate in the US rose from 9.4% in May to 9.5% in June.
While the rate of 9.5% was slightly lower than had been expected - it is still the highest since August 1983 with a total of 14.7 million people unemployed in June in the world‘s largest economy. ...
US unemployment rate hits 26-year high of 9.5%
by Kay Murchie
June 25, 2009
The world’s largest economy received some good news today after the Commerce Department revealed that gross domestic product (GDP) fell by an annualised rate of 5.5% in the first three months of 2009.
The figures were much better than previously thought and follow a 6.3% fall in the final quarter of 2008 and a fall of 0.5% in the third ...
US economy’s rate of contraction better than expected
by Kay Murchie
June 5, 2009
Figures released today from the US Labor Department show that the US economy shed 345,000 jobs in May, taking the unemployment rate up to a 25-year high of 9.4%.
However, the number of jobs lost were far fewer than expected and follow the 539,000 jobs lost in the previous month.
Service sector industries axed 120,000 jobs in May, while ...
US unemployment rate up to 9.4% but job losses ease
by Kay Murchie
May 15, 2009
The US Labor Department has announced today that US consumer prices remained unchanged in April - in line with expectations.
However, on an annualised basis, inflation fell 0.7% on April last year - the steepest decline in 54 years.
Core prices, excluding energy and food, rose by 0.3% in April compared with March, which was more than expected, this was boosted ...
US inflation in largest annual fall since 1955
by Kay Murchie
May 14, 2009
The Commerce Department revealed that US retail sales fell 0.4% in April and follows a fall of 1.3% in March.
April’s figure was worse than analysts had expected and show no evidence of an actual recovery, according to Paul Dales, US economist at Capital Economics.
Consumer spending makes up for nearly 70% US GDP and retail sales are, therefore, a barometer for ...
US April retail sales worse than expected
by Kay Murchie
May 11, 2009
Figures released by the US Labor Department have revealed that the US jobs market might be improving.
According to the data, 539,000 jobs were lost in April, which exceeded the 600,000 economists had predicted and far less than the 699,000 jobs lost in March.
The country’s unemployment rate now stands at 8.9%, up from the 8.5% in March but represents the highest ...
US economy loses fewer jobs in April
by Kay Murchie
April 3, 2009
Figures from the Labor Department have revealed that the US unemployment rate rose from 8.1% in February to 8.5% in March - the highest level since 1983.
Since the recession took hold in December 2007 in the world’s largest economy, over 5 million jobs have been eliminated - with more than half of these (3.3 million) in the last five months alone.
Approximately 663,000 ...
US unemployment rate hits 8.5%
by Kay Murchie
March 6, 2009
Official figures from the US Labor Department revealed today that 651,000 jobs were lost in February in the US, taking the jobless rate 8.1% - the highest level since December 1983.
Meanwhile, the organisation adjusted its January figures upwards to 655,000, while December’s losses were revised to 681,000 - the biggest single monthly decline since October 1949.
A total ...
US Labor Department reveals worse than expected jobless figures
by Kay Murchie
CIPD: Easter may see turnaround in jobs market
by Kay Murchie
February 23, 2009
Figures released by the US Labor Department revealed a slight rise in US consumer prices as energy prices increased.
According to the Labor Department, the Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% - the first rise in six months, following a fall of 0.8% in December.
The rise is seen as positive by many analysts who have been worrying about the world’s largest economy entering a ...
US moves away from deflation
by Kay Murchie
