Employment Situation Report for December 2008

The Employment Situation report for December 2008 was released by The Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning:

Average Hourly Earnings (month-to-month change)
Predicted: +0.2%
Actual: +0.3%


Non-farm Payrolls (month-to-month change)
Predicted: -500K
Actual: -524K


Average Workweek
Predicted: 33.5 hrs
Actual: 33.3 hrs


Unemployment Rate
Predicted: 7.0%
Actual: 7.2%

Economist, academics, central bankers and investors pay very close attention to the monthly Employment Situation report as it offers penetrating insight as to the current and near-future state of the overall U.S. economy. If a) Americans are earning more money, b) unemployment is low and c) the economy is creating new jobs, this typically translates to more money being pumped into the economy (and vice versa.)

The "predicted" figure is what economists and Wall Street forecasters were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

Click here to view the full Department of Labor report.

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