- Unemployment drops to 8.8%, signaling steady economic growth, By Neil Irwin, April 1, 2011, Washington Post: “Employers continued creating new jobs at a steady pace in March, according to new data, driving the unemployment rate down a tick and confirming that the job market recovery, while slow, remains underway. The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate dropped to 8.8 percent last month, the lowest in two years and down from 8.9 percent the month before. That came as employers added 216,000 net jobs, higher than the revised 194,000 gain in February and above the 190,000 in new jobs that analysts had expected…”
- Jobs report signals improving economy, By Luca Di Leo and Jeff Bater, April 1, 2011, Wall Street Journal: “The U.S. economy continued to add jobs in March, pushing the unemployment rate to its lowest level in two years and offering the latest signs of an improving economy. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 216,000 last month as the private sector added 230,000 jobs, the Labor Department said Friday in its survey of employers. The February number was revised to show an increase of 194,000 jobs from a previously estimated gain of 192,000. The unemployment rate, which is obtained from a separate household survey, edged down to 8.8% last month, the lowest level since March 2009. Since November 2010, the jobless rate has declined by a full percentage point. Still, there are about 13.5 million people who would like to work but can’t get a job. The data were better than expected. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast payrolls would rise by 195,000 and that the jobless rate would remain unchanged at 8.9%…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty