| Approximately 385 people in the US will lose their lives in traffic fatalities this coming 4th of July holiday, between 6 p.m. July 3 and 11:59 p.m. July 6, according to the National Safety Council.
During this deadly four-day period, another 41,200 will seek medical treatment for injuries suffered in motor vehicle collisions. Please visit this link to read the full further information: National Safety Council |
30 June 2014
• 385 Americans Will Die in Traffic Accidents This Weekend
27 June 2014
• Supreme Court Says Obama’s “Recess” NLRB Appointments Unconstitutional
 ”The high court, ruling June 26, 2014, said that the appointments were unconstitutional because they were made during a three-day recess in pro forma Senate sessions, and ‘three days is too short a time to bring a recess within the scope of the [U.S. Constitution’s Recess Appointments] Clause.’” See the complete report at this link: SHRM.org See Congressman Trey Gowdy's statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision: http://gowdy.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=386028 |
26 June 2014
• U.S. Payrolls, Wages, Salaries – May 2014
| Private wages and salaries increased $27.8 billion in May, compared with an increase of $17.9 billion in April.
Goods-producing industries' payrolls increased $7.4 billion, in contrast to a decrease of $1.5 billion; manufacturing payrolls increased $5.0 billion, in contrast to a decrease of $2.8 billion. Services-producing industries' payrolls increased $20.4 billion, compared with an increase of $19.3 billion. Government wages and salaries increased $1.4 billion, compared with an increase of $1.2 billion. See the complete report at this link: USDOC-BEA |
• U.S. Personal Income – May 2014
| Personal income increased $58.8 billion, or 0.4 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) increased $55.6 billion,
or 0.4 percent, in May. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $18.3 billion, or 0.2 percent. In April, personal income increased $49.9 billion, or 0.3 percent, DPI increased $50.8 billion, or 0.4 percent, and PCE increased $2.3 billion, or less than 0.1 percent, based on revised estimates. Real DPI increased 0.2 percent in May, the same increase as in April. Real PCE decreased 0.1 percent in May, compared with a decrease of 0.2 percent in April. See the complete report at this link: USDOC-BEA |
• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims – 21 June 2014
| In the week ending June 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 312,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the
previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 312,000 to 314,000. The 4-week moving average was 314,250, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 311,750 to 312,250. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending June 7 were in Alaska (3.7), Puerto Rico (3.6), California (2.8), New Jersey (2.8), Connecticut (2.7), Pennsylvania (2.6), Nevada (2.5), Illinois (2.3), and Massachusetts (2.2). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 14 were in Pennsylvania (+7,120), California (+670), Wisconsin (+542), Delaware (+438), and South Carolina (+173), while the largest decreases were in Georgia (-2,245), Missouri (-2,130), New York (- 2,078), Tennessee (-1,494), and Puerto Rico (-1,386). Click on chart to enlarge Note: “Insured unemployment rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
25 June 2014
• U.S. GDP [Gross Domestic Product] 3rd Estimate – Q1 2014
| Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property
located in the United States -- decreased at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in the first quarter of 2014
according to the "third" estimate. In the fourth quarter of
2013, real GDP increased 2.6 percent.
The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the "second" estimate issued last month. In the second estimate, real GDP was estimated to have decreased 1.0 percent. With the third estimate for the first quarter, the increase in personal consumption expenditures (PCE) was smaller than previously estimated, and the decline in exports was larger than previously estimated. The decrease in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected negative contributions from private inventory investment, exports, state and local government spending, nonresidential fixed investment, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by a positive contribution from PCE. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased. See the complete report at this link: USDOC-BEA |
24 June 2014
• U.S. Personal Income by State – Q1 2014
| State personal income increased 0.8 percent on average in the first quarter of 2014, an acceleration from the 0.5 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Personal income grew in 46 states and growth accelerated in 24 of those states. The fastest growth, 1.4 percent, was in Washington state, Vermont, and West Virginia. Personal income fell 2.9 percent in North Dakota, 0.3 percent in South Dakota, and 0.2 percent in Arkansas and Nebraska. See the complete report at this link: USDOC-BEA |
• “Changes to Connecticut Paid Sick Leave Law Provide Some Relief to Employers”
| ”The Connecticut Paid Sick Leave legislation has been amended
(1) to allow employers to determine the 50-employee applicability threshold in the same manner as under the state’s Family and Medical Leave Act, (2) to allow accrual of paid sick leave hours on any annual basis, not just a calendar... See the complete report at this link: JacksonLewis.com |
23 June 2014
• Connecticut Employment Situation - May 2014
| Preliminary May job figures from the federal business payroll survey disclose
an increasing pace of job growth for the state. Connecticut added 5,800 total nonfarm jobs (0.3%) in May, with
seven of ten major industry supersectors growing. This is the fourth straight monthly employment increase since
January and the state has now added 12,500 jobs (0.8%) over the year. The May seasonally adjusted nonfarm
employment level of 1,665,500 is now at a new employment recovery highpoint for the state, surpassing the old
recovery high of 1,663,500 reached in December 2013, just before the January deep freeze set in.
Results from the residential survey show Connecticut’s unemployment was 6.9% for May, unchanged from the April 2014 figure, but down nine-tenths of a percentage point from the May 2013 unemployment rate (7.8%). Seven of ten major industry supersectors added positions in the month of May while two supersectors declined and one was unchanged. The seven major industry supersector level nonfarm job gains were led higher by professional and business services (2,300, 1.1%). The trade, transportation & utilities (2,000, 0.7%) supersector also provided strong job growth as transportation (1,100, 2.1%) and wholesale trade (1,000, 1.6%) boosted the grouping. The manufacturing supersector (1,000, 0.6%) was another large job gainer, with the capital intensive durable goods component (1,100, 0.9%) providing all of the increase. The leisure and hospitality (700, 0.5%) supersector and the government supersector (700, 0.3%) each added 700 positions, while the education and health services (400, 0.1%) and other services (400, 0.7%) supersectors added 400 jobs each. Restaurants and hotels were a strong contributor to the leisure supersector. The two job-losing industry supersectors were led by financial activities (-900, -0.7%). Insurance appeared to be the weakest component in the group and real estate was lower as well. The combined construction and mining (-800, -1.4%) supersector was also lower in May, but had performed bettter than expected in the recent very cold winter months. The information supersector was unchanged this May. 2 Recession recovery: Connecticut has now recovered 71,600 positions, or 60.1% of the 11 Recession recovery: Connecticut has now recovered 71,600 positions, or 60.1% of the 119,100 seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs that were lost in the state during the March 2008 - February 2010 employment recession. Labor Market Areas (LMAs): May 2014 preliminary nonfarm estimates indicate three of the six major Connecticut Labor Market Areas (Bureau of Labor Statistics-recognized LMAs) gained jobs, while three LMAs exhibited small employment declines. The regional employment growth in May appeared to be located around the center of the state. The Hartford LMA (5,700, 1.0%) led all Connecticut LMA growth by a wide margin. The New Haven LMA (500, 0.2%) and Waterbury LMA (400, 0.6%) added positions as well. The three declining LMAs posted small job losses and were led by the Danbury LMA (-300, -0.4%). The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk LMA (-100, -0.02%) and the Norwich-New London LMA (-100, -0.1%) remained essentially flat. Note: The major Connecticut LMAs are estimated and seasonally adjusted independently from the statewide numbers by the BLS and cover about 90% of the nonfarm employment in the state, so they will not fully sum to the statewide total. Hours and Earnings: The private sector workweek, not seasonally adjusted, averaged 33.6 hours in May 2014, unchanged from the May 2013 estimate of 33.6 hours. Average hourly earnings at $27.83, not seasonally adjusted, were down just six cents, or -0.2% from the May 2013 hourly private sector pay figure of $27.89. The resulting average private sector weekly pay was calculated at $935.09, down $2.01, or -0.2% over the year. Labor Force Data (residential household survey) Connecticut’s unemployment rate was estimated at 6.9% for May 2014 (seasonally adjusted). This is unchanged from April 2014, but down nine-tenths of a percentage point from the May 2013 unemployment rate of 7.8%. May’s statewide civilian labor force grew higher for the fifth month (9,073, 0.5%) and is now clearly positive over the year (13,219, 0.7%). The unemployment rate in Connecticut has not been this low since it was 7.0% in January of 2009, in the midst of the financial crisis. The May 2014 average weekly initial unemployment claims for first-time Connecticut filers (seasonally adjusted) decreased See the complete report at this link: CTDOL |
20 June 2014
• U.S. Regional and State Employment and Unemployment - May 2014
| Vs. April 2014: Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in May.
Twenty states had unemployment rate decreases from April, 16 states had
increases, and 14 states and the District of Columbia had no change.
Vs. May 2013: Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier and one state had an increase. The national jobless rate held at 6.3 percent in May but was 1.2 percentage points lower than in May 2013. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
19 June 2014
• U.S. Employment and Wages, By County – Q4 2013
| From December 2012 to December 2013, employment increased in 292 of the 334 largest U.S.
Counties.
The U.S. average weekly wage was unchanged over the year, remaining at $1,000 in the fourth quarter of 2013. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
• Less Than One-Third of Grads Had Jobs On Graduating
| “Slightly more than 30 percent of graduating college seniors from the Class of 2014 who applied for a job had one in hand prior to graduation, according to results of NACE’s 2014 Student Survey.
”The 30.1 percent for the Class of 2014 is a small improvement over the numbers for both the Class of 2012 (29.8 percent) and the Class of 2013 (29.3 percent). ”Overall, the percentage of graduating seniors who applied for a job and received at least one offer was 47.9 percent. However, only 62.8 percent of those receiving an offer had accepted an offer at the time of the survey.” See the complete report at this link: NACEWeb.org |
• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims – 14 June 2014
| In the week ending June 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 312,000, a decrease of 6,000
from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 317,000 to 318,000. The 4-week moving average was 311,750, a decrease of 3,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 315,250 to 315,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent for the week ending June 7, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 31 were in Alaska (4.1), Puerto Rico (3.3), New Jersey (2.9), California (2.8), Connecticut (2.8), Pennsylvania (2.7), Nevada (2.6), Illinois (2.4), Massachusetts (2.2), West Virginia (2.2), Maryland (2.1), and New Mexico (2.1). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 7 were in California (+9,935), Florida (+4,050), Illinois (+3,248), Georgia (+2,997), and Pennsylvania (+2,909), while the largest decreases were in New Mexico (-332), Nebraska (-162), Alaska (-109), Kansas (-49), and North Dakota (-30). Note: “Insured unemployment rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
18 June 2014
• Working by U.S. Employed Persons: American Time-Use Survey - 2013
| Employed persons worked an average of 7.6 hours on the days they worked. More hours
were worked, on average, on weekdays than on weekend days--7.9 hours compared with
5.5 hours.
On the days they worked, employed men worked 53 minutes more than employed women. This difference partly reflects women's greater likelihood of working part time. However, even among full-time workers (those usually working 35 hours or more per week), men worked longer than women--8.3 hours compared with 7.7 hours. On the days they worked, 83 percent of employed persons did some or all of their work at their workplace and 23 percent did some or all of their work at home. They spent more time working at the workplace than at home--7.9 hours compared with 3.0 hours. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
17 June 2014
• U.S. Real Earnings – May 2014
| Real average hourly earnings for all employees fell 0.2 percent from April to May, seasonally adjusted. This result stems from a 0.2 percent increase in the
average hourly earnings being more than offset by a 0.4 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for
All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).
Real average weekly earnings fell 0.1 percent over the month due to the decrease in real average hourly earnings and the average workweek remaining unchanged. Annual Change: Real average hourly earnings fell 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, from May 2013 to May 2014. This decrease in real average hourly earnings, combined with an unchanged average workweek, resulted in a 0.1 percent decrease in real average weekly earnings over this period. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS *Note: Real earnings show the effect of inflation on your pay. If your salary went up by 2.1% over the year while the cost-of-living (CPI-U) rose 2.3%, then the “real” value of your salary fell by 0.2% [differences in some of the data are due to rounding and seasonal adjustment]. The figures reported here are earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, seasonally adjusted. |
• U.S. Consumer Price Index – May 2014
| The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 2.1 percent
over the last 12 months to an index level of 237.900 (1982-84=100). For the
month, the index rose 0.3 percent prior to seasonal adjustment.
The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 2.1 percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 234.216 (1982-84=100). For the month, the index rose 0.3 percent prior to seasonal adjustment. The Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) increased 2.0 percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 136.311. For the month, the index rose 0.3 percent on a not seasonally adjusted basis. Please note that the indexes for the post- 2012 period are subject to revision. The Consumer Price Index for June 2014 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, July 22, 2014, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT). See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
13 June 2014
• USDOL Issues Proposed Rulemaking To Implement Executive Order 13658, Establishing A Minimum Wage For Contractors
| On February 12, 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13658, “Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors,” to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 for all workers on Federal construction and service contracts.
The NPRM defines key terms used in the Executive Order, including contracts, contract-like instruments, and concessions contracts. The NPRM makes clear that the Executive Order minimum wage requirement applies to all contracts for construction covered by the Davis-Bacon Act; contracts for services covered by the Service Contract Act; concessions contracts, such as contracts to furnish food, lodging, automobile fuel, souvenirs, newspaper stands, and/or recreational equipment on Federal property; and contracts to provide services, such as child care or dry cleaning, in Federal buildings for Federal employees or the general public. Executive Order 13658 applies to new contracts and replacements for expiring contracts with the Federal Government that result from solicitations issued on or after January 1, 2015 or to contracts that are awarded outside the solicitation process on or after January 1, 2015. Executive Order 13658 applies to four major categories of contractual agreements: (1) procurement contracts for construction covered by the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA); (2) service contracts covered by the Service Contract Act (SCA); (3) concessions contracts, including any concessions contract excluded from the SCA by the Department of Labor’s regulations at 29 CFR 4.133(b); and (4) contracts in connection with Federal property or lands and related to offering services for Federal employees, their dependents, or the general public. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-WHD |
• “Connecticut GDP Growing Half As Fast As US”
 ”Connecticut’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for last year grew 0.9 percent compared to 2012 and resulted in the state being ranked 39th nationally. That tied Connecticut with Maine and New Hampshire for the lowest GDP growth rate in New England in 2013, the BEA said.” See the complete report at this link: NHRegister.com |
• U.S. Producer Price Indexes – May 2014
| The Producer Price Index for final demand fell 0.2 percent in May, seasonally adjusted. This decline followed increases of 0.6 percent in April and 0.5 percent in March. On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand advanced 2.0 percent for the 12 months ended in May. The 0.2-percent decrease in final demand prices can be traced to the indexes for final demand services and final demand goods, both of which also declined 0.2 percent. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
12 June 2014
• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims – 07 June 2014
| In the week ending June 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 317,000, an increase of 4,000
from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 312,000 to 313,000. The 4-week moving average was 315,250, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 310,250 to 310,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending May 31, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 24 were in Alaska (3.9), Puerto Rico (3.1), Connecticut (2.8), New Jersey (2.8), California (2.7), Pennsylvania (2.7), Nevada (2.6), Illinois (2.4), Massachusetts (2.3), Oregon (2.2), and Rhode Island (2.2). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 31 were in Tennessee (+949), Puerto Rico (+787), Illinois (+654), New Mexico (+626), and Washington (+547), while the largest decreases were in California (-1,944), New Jersey (-1,654), Pennsylvania (-1,416), Massachusetts (-1,152), and North Carolina (-1,037). Note: “Insured unemployment rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
11 June 2014
• U.S. Employer Costs For Employee Compensation – March 2014
 Private Industry: Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $29.99 per hour worked. Government: Total employer compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $43.10 per hour. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
10 June 2014
• U.S. Job Openings and Labor Turnover – April 2014
| There were 4.5 million job openings on the last business day of April, up from 4.2 million in March.
The hires rate (3.4 percent) and separations rate (3.3 percent) were unchanged in April. Within separations, the quits rate (1.8 percent) and the layoffs and discharges rate (1.2 percent) were unchanged in April. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the nonfarm sector by industry and by four geographic regions. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
• U. S. Business Economists Forecast Wage Growth, Job Creation, and Unemployment
| Job Growth”Nonfarm payrolls are expected to post an average monthly gain of 209,000 in 2014, a marked improvement from the expectations of only 188,000 net new jobs in the March survey. The pace of job creation is expected to hold steady at 209,000 per month in 2015.
Unemployment: ”Likewise, the unemployment rate is expected to fall to an average of 6.2% in 2014 and decline further to 5.9% in 2015. Wages: ”Expectations for compensation growth are unchanged from the previous survey, with compensation per hour expected to rise at a 2.0% pace this year and 2.5% next year." See the complete report at this link: National Association for Business Economics |
07 June 2014
• “Inflexible Leave Policy is Fair, Lawful and Protects Disabled Employees, Says Tenth Circuit”
| ”The EEOC has sued numerous employers, alleging that their 'inflexible leave policies' were unlawful because they did not take into account the possibility of the employer’s providing additional leave as a reasonable accommodation. Those employers have agreed to pay, literally, millions of dollars to settle those cases. We have posted about those settlements. See here.
”But now, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has not only rejected the idea that inflexible leave policies are inherently discriminatory….” Note: Case applies solely to the Tenth Circuit, and, there may be a lot more heard about this issue. See the complete report at this link: JacksonLewis.com |
06 June 2014
• U.S. Employment Situaton – May 2014
| Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 217,000 in May, and the unemployment rate was
unchanged at 6.3 percent.. Employment
increased in professional and business services, health care and social assistance, food
services and drinking places, and transportation and warehousing.
Household Survey Data The unemployment rate held at 6.3 percent in May, following a decline of 0.4 percentage point in April. The number of unemployed persons was unchanged in May at 9.8 million. Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons declined by 1.2 percentage points and 1.9 million, respectively. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (5.9 percent), adult women (5.7 percent), teenagers (19.2 percent), whites (5.4 percent), blacks (11.5 percent), and Hispanics (7.7 percent) showed little or no change in May. The jobless rate for Asians was 5.3 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 3.4 million in May. These individuals accounted for 34.6 percent of the unemployed. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed has declined by 979,000. Establishment Survey Data Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 217,000 in May, with gains in professional and business services, health care and social assistance, food services and drinking places, and transportation and warehousing. Over the prior 12 months, nonfarm payroll employment growth had averaged 197,000 per month. Professional and business services added 55,000 jobs in May, the same as its average monthly job gain over the prior 12 months. In May, the industry added 7,000 jobs each in computer systems design and related services and in management and technical consulting. Employment in temporary help services continued to trend up (+14,000) and has grown by 224,000 over the past year. In May, health care and social assistance added 55,000 jobs. The health care industry added 34,000 jobs over the month, twice its average monthly gain for the prior 12 months. Within health care, employment rose in May by 23,000 in ambulatory health care services (which includes offices of physicians, outpatient care centers, and home health care services) and by 7,000 in hospitals. Employment rose by 21,000 in social assistance, compared with an average gain of 7,000 per month over the prior 12 months. Within leisure and hospitality, employment in food services and drinking places continued to grow, increasing by 32,000 in May and by 311,000 over the past year. Transportation and warehousing employment rose by 16,000 in May. Over the prior 12 months, the industry had added an average of 9,000 jobs per month. In May, employment growth occurred in support activities for transportation (+6,000) and couriers and messengers (+4,000). Manufacturing employment changed little over the month but has added 105,000 jobs over the past year. Within the industry, durable goods added 17,000 jobs in May and has accounted for the net job gain in manufacturing over the past 12 months. Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, information, financial activities, and government, showed little change over the month. Wages and Hours The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.5 hours in May. The manufacturing workweek increased by 0.2 hour in May to 41.1 hours, and factory overtime was unchanged at 3.5 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.7 hours. In May, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 5 cents to $24.38. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.1 percent. In May, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 3 cents to $20.54. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
05 June 2014
• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims – 31 May 2014
| In the week ending May 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 312,000, an increase of 8,000
from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 4,000 from 300,000 to 304,000. The 4-week moving average was 310,250, a decrease of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since June 2, 2007 when it was 307,500. The previous week's average was revised up by 1,000 from 311,500 to 312,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending May 24, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 17 were in Alaska (4.3), Puerto Rico (3.0), California (2.9), New Jersey (2.9), Connecticut (2.8), Pennsylvania (2.8), Nevada (2.6), Illinois (2.5), Massachusetts (2.3), Oregon (2.2), Rhode Island (2.2), and Maryland (2.1). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 24 were in New York (+1,347), Ohio (+966), Wisconsin (+669), Louisiana (+642), and Tennessee (+580), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-6,683), Kansas (-2,093), Illinois (-1,407), Pennsylvania (-1,249), and California (-1,170). Note: “Insured unemployment rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
04 June 2014
• U.S. Productivity and Labor Costs – Q1 2014
| Nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased at a 3.2 percent annual
rate during the first quarter of 2014, as hours increased 2.2 percent and output decreased 1.1
percent. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally
adjusted annual rates.) The decrease in productivity was the largest since
the first quarter of 2008 (-3.9 percent). From the first quarter of 2013 to
the first quarter of 2014, productivity increased 1.0 percent as output and
hours worked rose 2.8 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.
Unit labor costs in nonfarm businesses increased 5.7 percent in the first quarter of 2014, due to both the decline in productivity and a 2.3 percent increase in hourly compensation. Unit labor costs increased 1.2 percent over the last four quarters. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
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