Job Market Update

Updated Friday November 7, 2008

We're beginning to understand why newspaper writers always try to put a positive spin on things :). Who wants to write about dreary stuff all the time?! Like the jobs and unemployment numbers that came out today? Oy! October lost 240K jobs and the unemployment rate jumped from 6.1 to 6.5%. Dreary! September was revised down to
-284K and August to -127. Double dreary!

Not that the numbers are a surprise. Anyone who's been reading the papers, knows we're going through a severe economic contraction. In fact, we went into an "official" recession in the 3rd quarter of this year. That the job market would be slow under these circumstances could have been expected.

We do not expect dramatic improvement over the next few months either, as this contraction works itself out. But nothing lasts forever and remember, even in times like these, there are good positions out there! In fact, the upcoming months are a good time to look, because they're the months that budgets for 2009 are approved. And although we don't expect a flood of new positions, we're sure there will be some good ones. After all, business goes on, no matter the economic circumstances!

So if you're looking for a new opportunity, take advantage. Get your resume out there! We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving Holiday.

Job numbers for each month are listed below for the current year, showing the number initially reported (original), then the first Revision, followed by the Final number for that month. If you are interested in the history of job growth to get a feel for the trend, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics chart here.

Month	Original	Revised	Final
January	-17K	-22K	-76K
February	-63K	-76K	-83K
March	-80K	-81K	-88K
April	-20K	-28K	-67K
May	-49K	-62K	-47K
June	-62K	-51K	-100K
July	-51K	-60K	-67K
August	-84K	-73K	-127K
September	-159K	-284K
October	-240K