Double-Digit Unemployment... Just How Lagging Is It?

The Labor Department has just reported the unemployment rate and non-farm payrolls data for October.  It isn’t pretty.  The unemployment rate screamed up into the double-digit territory to 10.2%.  The non-Farm Payrolls shrank by a reading of -190,000 versus estimates of -175,000 as the consensus figure.

There was a gain of 0.3% in Average Hourly Earnings.  The losses in jobs were in most sectors in construction, manufacturing, retail, leisure, and hospitality.  There were small gains seen in education and healthcare, but there was actually a small gain in professional services jobs.

We noted earlier this week that it seemed like the Obama administration was telegraphing a weaker bias on jobs.  Turns out that was the case.  And then some. It would be interesting to ask the newly unemployed and those who have been perpetually unemployed with no jobs prospects just how lagging of an economic indicator a 10%+ official unemployment rate is…. let alone the nearly 17.5% total if you include the temporary and underemployed.
JON C. OGG