U.S. adds 103,000 jobs, unemployment rate drops
By Kevin Smith, Staff Writer© Pasadena Star-News, January 7, 2011
The nation added 103,000 jobs in December and unemployment hit its lowest level in 19 months, but economic experts say the growth will have to accelerate to fuel significant change.
The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 9.4 percent last month from 9.7 percent in November, a decline that was attributed partly to people who stopped looking for work.
Still, one Southland economist doesn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"I like it," said Nancy D. Sidhu, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. "It's not a slam dunk and we didn't create 200,000 jobs, which would be my mark for the economy to really start cooking, but I'll take it."
The Labor Department also made some positive upward revisions for job creation in November and December.
The economy added 210,000 jobs in October, above the previous figure of 172,000, and November's total was revised to 71,000, up from 39,000.
"I think 9.4 percent unemployment is still too high and it's even more so when you look at what I call the 'distress rate,'" Sidhu said. "To be counted in unemployment you have to have done something to look for a job. But there is a group of people out there who would like a job but didn't do anything last month to find one."
The government no longer counts people as unemployed when they stop looking for work.
When those people are added in with other part-time workers who would prefer to be working full-time, December's distress rate clocked in at about 16.7 percent, according to Sidhu.
The nation's unemployment rate has topped 9 percent for 20 months, the longest such streak on record. But Los Angeles County's jobless rate has remained much higher.
In November, the county's unemployment rate jumped to 12.9 percent, up from the 12.6 percent level it had maintained the previous two months.
Some local cities posted jobless rates that were much higher, including Baldwin Park, (16.1 percent), El Monte (15.9 percent) and La Puente (15.2 percent).
Local unemployment numbers for December are scheduled to be released Jan. 21.
Some of the nation's biggest job gains for 2010 occurred in temporary jobs (308,000), health care (266,000), restaurants and bars (210,000), manufacturing (136,000) and retail (116,000).
Big job losers included local government (-256,000 jobs), construction (-93,000), telecommunications (-45,000) and finance and insurance (-43,000).
Private employers added a net total of 113,000 jobs last month and the government shed 10,000 jobs, the Labor Department said Friday.
In total, the nation added 1.1 million jobs last year, or an average of 94,000 jobs a month.
"It's a bit of a mixed bag," said Ryan Sweet, an economist at Moody's Analytics. Many analysts hoped to see larger job gains, and the drop in the unemployment rate is unlikely to be sustained, he said.
"The labor market ended last year with a bit of a thud," he said. "But I think things will get much better this year."
President Barack Obama said the new jobs report shows the economy is moving in the right direction. But he acknowledged that hiring and growth must still accelerate.
"Our mission has to be to accelerate hiring and accelerate growth," the president said Friday at a window manufacturing plant in suburban Maryland.
Gary Kaplan, president of Gary Kaplan & Associates, a Pasadena-based executive search firm, said his company saw a marked improvement in 2010.
"We were up by more than 50 percent. But in the name of complete candor, the bar was pretty low in 2009," he said.
Kaplan also noted that employers looking to fill executive slots are being far more discriminating these days.
"It's unlike anything I've ever seen before," he said. "In the past when a company was looking to fill a senior financial position, it often wasn't required that the person come directly from the exact same industry. But it's different this time. There are lot more 'must-haves' in job requirements versus the 'nice-to-haves.'"
Sidhu figures things are going to look up by year's end.
"We're looking for more improvement in 2011," she said. "I think it will be a noticeable improvement. A year from now I'm hoping to say we generated close to 2 million jobs in 2011 ... that's where I'm headed."
