Statistics for Managers

10 December 2013

• U.S. Job Openings and Hires – October 2013

Job Openings: There were 4.204 million jobs open in the U.S. on the last business day of October 2013 [nsa]. This is up 7.6% from 3.906 million openings in the prior month and up 7.9% from 3.896 in the same month a year ago.

Hires: U.S. employers hired 4.746 million workers in October, down 1.6% from the previous month but up 5.3% from the same month a year ago.

Source: USDOL-BLS

Click on chart to enlarge

06 December 2013

• U.S. 2014 Standard Mileage Rates for Business, Medical, and Moving

The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2014 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2014, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

• 56 cents per mile for business miles driven

• 23.5 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes

• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

The business, medical, and moving expense rates decrease one-half cent from the 2013 rates. The charitable rate is based on statute.

Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates.

A taxpayer may not use the business standard mileage rate for a vehicle after using any depreciation method under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) or after claiming a Section 179 deduction for that vehicle. In addition, the business standard mileage rate cannot be used for more than four vehicles used simultaneously.

These and other requirements for a taxpayer to use a standard mileage rate to calculate the amount of a deductible business, moving, medical, or charitable expense are in Rev. Proc. 2010-51. Notice 2013-80 contains the standard mileage rates, the amount a taxpayer must use in calculating reductions to basis for depreciation taken under the business standard mileage rate, and the maximum standard automobile cost that a taxpayer may use in computing the allowance under a fixed and variable rate plan.

See for details: IRS.gov

• U.S. Employment Situation -- November 2013

The unemployment rate declined from 7.3 percent to 7.0 percent in November, and total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 203,000. Employment increased in transportation and warehousing, health care, and manufacturing.

Both the number of unemployed persons, at 10.9 million, and the unemployment rate, at 7.0 percent, declined in November. Among the unemployed, the number who reported being on temporary layoff decreased by 377,000. This largely reflects the return to work of federal employees who were furloughed in October due to the partial government shutdown.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (6.7 percent), adult women (6.2 percent), teenagers (20.8 percent), whites (6.2 percent), blacks (12.5 percent), and Hispanics (8.7 percent) changed little in November. The jobless rate for Asians was 5.3 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 203,000 in November. Job growth averaged 195,000 per month over the prior 12 months. In November, job gains occurred in transportation and warehousing, health care, and manufacturing.

Employment in transportation and warehousing rose by 31,000 in November, with gains in couriers and messengers (+9,000), truck transportation (+8,000), warehousing and storage (+5,000), and air transportation (+3,000).

Health care employment continued to increase over the month (+28,000). Job gains occurred in home healthcare services (+12,000) and offices of physicians (+7,000), while nursing care facilities lost jobs (-4,000). Job growth in health care has averaged 19,000 per month thus far this year, compared with an average monthly gain of 27,000 in 2012.

In November, manufacturing added 27,000 jobs. Within the industry, job gains occurred in food manufacturing (+8,000) and in motor vehicles and parts (+7,000).

In November, employment in professional and business services continued to trend up (+35,000). Over the prior 12 months, the industry added an average of 55,000 jobs per month.

Retail trade employment also continued to expand in November (+22,000). Within the industry, job growth occurred in general merchandise stores (+14,000); in sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores (+12,000); and in automobile dealers (+7,000). Over the prior 12 months, job growth in retail trade averaged 31,000 per month.

Within leisure and hospitality, employment in food services and drinking places continued to trend up in November (+18,000). Job growth in this industry averaged 28,000 per month over the prior 12 months.

Employment in construction continued to trend up in November (+17,000). Monthly job gains in the industry averaged 15,000 over the prior 12 months.

Federal government employment continued to decline (-7,000) in November. Over the past 12 months, federal government employment has decreased by 92,000.

Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, wholesale trade, information, and financial activities, showed little or no change in November.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours in November. The manufacturing workweek edged up by 0.1 hour to 41.0 hours, and factory overtime edged up by 0.1 hour to 3.5 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to 33.7 hours.

In November, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 4 cents to $24.15. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 48 cents, or 2.0 percent. In November, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 3 cents to $20.31.

See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS

• U.S. Personal Income, Expenditures – October 2013

Personal income decreased $10.8 billion, or 0.1 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) decreased $23.6 billion, or 0.2 percent, in October. Personal consumption consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $32.7 billion, or 0.3 percent.

In September, personal income increased $64.3 billion, or 0.5 percent, DPI increased $62.1 billion, or 0.5 percent, and PCE increased $23.8 billion, or 0.2 percent, based on revised estimates.

Real disposable personal income decreased 0.2 percent in October, in contrast to an increase of 0.4 percent in September. Real PCE increased 0.3 percent, compared with an increase of 0.1 percent.

See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BEA

05 December 2013

• U.S. Metropolitan Area Employment And Unemployment -- October 2013

In October, 288 metropolitan areas had over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 75 had decreases, and 9 had no change. The largest over- the-year employment increases occurred in New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (+141,800), Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+96,100), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (+84,700). The largest over-the- year percentage gain in employment occurred in Naples-Marco Island, Fla. (+7.6 percent), followed by Sebastian-Vero Beach, Fla. (+6.7 percent), and Crestview- Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Fla. (+6.0 percent).

The largest over-the-year decrease in employment occurred in Cleveland-Elyria- Mentor, Ohio (-7,700), followed by Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, N.Y. (-4,400), and Peoria, Ill. (-4,100). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment occurred in Decatur, Ill. (-4.3 percent), Manhattan, Kan. (-3.5 percent), and Palm Coast, Fla. (-3.4 percent).

See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS

• U.S. Real Gross Domestic Product 2nd Estimate – Q3 2013

Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 3.6 percent in the third quarter of 2013 (that is, from the second quarter to the third quarter), according to the "second" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 2.5 percent.

The increase in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from private inventory investment, personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, nonresidential fixed investment, residential fixed investment, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by a negative contribution from federal government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

The acceleration in real GDP growth in the third quarter primarily reflected an acceleration in private inventory investment, a deceleration in imports, and an acceleration in state and local government spending that were partly offset by decelerations in exports, in PCE, and in nonresidential fixed investment.

See the complete report at this link: USDOC-BEA

• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims – 30 November 2013
[Jobless]

In the week ending November 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 298,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 321,000.

The 4-week moving average was 322,250, a decrease of 10,750 from the previous week's revised average of 333,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent for the week ending November 23, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending November 23 were in Alaska (5.5), Puerto Rico (3.7), Virgin Islands (3.3), New Jersey (3.2), California (3.1), Pennsylvania (2.9), Connecticut (2.8), Oregon (2.6), Illinois (2.5), and Nevada (2.5).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending November 23 were in California (+8,326), Pennsylvania (+4,416), Michigan (+3,426), Illinois (+2,638), and Texas (+2,099), while the largest decreases were in New Jersey (-572), Florida (-492), Idaho (-293), Mississippi (-287), and Virginia (-72).