Payroll employment and job openings rate continued to grow in 2006 (EXCERPT), Monthly Labor Review Online, March 2007

Payroll employment and job openings rate continued to grow in 2006

Kimberly Riley, Emily Lloyd, and Natalie Propst

Nonfarm payroll employment, as measured by the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey, increased by 2.3 million in 2006.¹ (See chart 1.) Employment growth, averaging 252,000 per month in the first quarter, was stronger then than in any subsequent quarter. Overall, the pace of growth in 2006 was slower than in 2005.

Employment trends varied by industry. (See table 1.) A weak housing market hurt employment in construction and related industries, and imports continued to compete with manufactured goods such as textiles and apparel. Oil prices hit an all-time high in the summer and had a dual effect, hindering growth in retail trade while boosting employment in mining and other industries that produce energy. Shortages of skilled labor suppressed hiring in temporary help services, but spurred wage growth in professional and technical services. Increased tax revenues had a positive influence on hiring for health care and education.

This excerpt is from an article published in the March 2007 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. The full text of the article is available in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF). See How to view a PDF file for more information.

Read abstract Download full article in PDF (498K)

Footnotes
1 The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program is a monthly survey of more than 160,000 nonfarm businesses representing about 400,000 establishments. For more information on the program’s concepts and methodology, see BLS Handbook of Methods (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1997); on the Internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/. CES data are available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/ces/. The CES data used in this article are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise noted.

Related BLS programs

Current Employment Statistics
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)

Payroll employment in 2005: recovery and expansion. — Mar. 2006.
Payroll employment grows in 2004. — Mar. 2005.
The U.S. labor market in 2003: signs of improvement by year’s end—Mar. 2004.
U.S. labor market in 2002: continued weakness—Feb. 2003.
U.S. labor market in 2001: economy enters a recession—Feb. 2002.
The job market in 2000: slowing down as the year ended.—Feb. 2001.
The job market remains strong in 1999.—Feb. 2000.
Job growth slows during crises overseas.—Feb. 1999.
Strong job growth continues, unemployment declines in 1997.—Feb. 1998.
Employment in 1996: jobs up, unemployment down.—Feb. 1997.
Slower economic growth affects the 1995 labor market.—Mar. 1996.
Strong employment gains continue in 1994.—Feb. 1995.

Within Monthly Labor Review Online:
Welcome | Current Issue | Index | Subscribe | Archives

Exit Monthly Labor Review Online:
BLS Home | Publications & Research Papers