Jobs Data Shows Recovery See-Saw
May 24th, 2010 | By Dawn R. Rivers | Category: ResearchOne of the unfortunate things about the monthly jobs numbers released by the Labor Department is that they only present half the picture. That is why the quarterly Business Employment Dynamics data, which was released last week for the third quarter 2009, can be so very useful. From this latest data release we now know that the economy lost 7.3 million jobs from firm closures and contractions during the third quarter of last year. However, at the same time, the economy gained 6.3 million jobs from firm openings and expansions. On net, we still experienced job losses of almost a million (964,000 jobs, to be a little closer to exact) but knowing that six million people were able to get jobs during that quarter helps to put things into slightly better perspective.
The three smallest firm size classes slipped a bit during the third quarter in terms of their job gains/losses ratios. Firms with fewer than five employees were close to their former levels, generating 8.5 jobs for every 10 lost, but firms with between 5 and 19 employees went from producing 9 jobs for every 10 lost to producing 6 jobs for every 7 lost. Meanwhile, firms with between 20 and 499 employees lost 322,000 jobs during the quarter. Jobs lost/gained ratios ranged from six jobs created for every seven lost among firms with between 250 and 499 employees, to ten jobs gained for every 11 lost among firms with between 100 and 249 employees. The next installment of the Business Employment Dynamic data will provide some detail about how the jobs numbers finally turned positive, by firm size class. That should be very interesting.
