Reuters: U.S. private employers added far more jobs than expected in June, bouncing back from a surprise slump the month before, a report by payrolls processor ADP showed on Thursday.
The private sector added 157,000 jobs last month, exceeding expectations for a gain of 68,000, according to a Reuters survey of economists.
…. U.S. stock index futures added to gains following the report, while the dollar gained more ground against the yen.
Friday’s jobs report is expected to show a modest rise in overall nonfarm payrolls of 90,000 for last month and a gain in private payrolls of 110,000….
On Wednesday, a stable employment reading from the Institute for Supply Management’s service sector survey suggested employment growth later in the year….. More here
Bloomberg: U.S. stock-index futures extended gains after an industry report showed companies added more jobs than forecast in June, bolstering confidence in the economic recovery…. More here
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Bloomberg: U.S. initial jobless claims fell for the first time in three weeks, a sign the labor market is making a little headway.
Jobless claims fell by 14,000 to 418,000 in the week ended July 2, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg News survey called for a drop to 420,000. The number of people on unemployment benefit rolls and those getting extended payments also declined.
First Lady Michelle Obama participates in the “Pit Crew Challenge” station during an event with the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition on the South Lawn of the White House, May 9, 2011. The First Lady visited seven activity stations during the event, which helped promote both the Let’s Move! and Joining Forces initiatives. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
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MediaLife: “60 Minutes” landed a big scoop with President Barack Obama’s first interview after the killing of Osama bin Laden, and it delivered a big audience.
“Minutes” averaged 13.8 million total viewers at 7 p.m. last night, according to Nielsen overnights, up 29 percent over the 10.7 million who tuned in last week.
The interview was easily Sunday night’s most-watched show on broadcast, with the No. 2 program, ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” drawing about 4 million fewer viewers.
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There have been endlessly frustrating problems with the OFA site since I started ‘The Obama Diary’ fundraising effort for Obama/Biden 2012 yesterday, lots of you have had trouble with the link – I’ve contacted OFA to let them know about the problems, but the automated reply said it could be a “few weeks” before they get back to me. Insane – people want to donate to the campaign and they can’t!
Any way, thank you so much to those who persevered and helped bring the total up to $830 today, just $170 short of the target. If any of you could manage $10 or more to bring it to $1,000 that would be great, but absolutely no worries if you’re not in a position to donate – as I said before, these are really difficult times for many of you.
President Obama made this statement to mark the 63rd anniversary (according to the Jewish calendar) of the founding of the state of Israel:
“Sixty-three years ago, when Israel declared its independence, the dream of a state for the Jewish people in their historic homeland was finally realized. On that same day, the United States became the first country in the world to recognize the State of Israel.
As Israelis celebrate their hard-won independence, it gives me great pleasure to extend the best wishes of the American people to the people of Israel and to honor their remarkable achievements over the past six decades. Our two nations share a unique and unbreakable bond of friendship that is anchored in common interests and shared values, and the United States’ unwavering commitment to Israel’s security.
I have every confidence that the strong relationship between our countries will grow deeper with each passing year. This is a period of profound change in the Middle East and North Africa, as people across the region courageously pursue the path of dignity and self-governance. Just as I know that Israel will always be one of our closest allies, I believe that the region can be more peaceful and prosperous when its people are able to fulfill their legitimate aspirations.
We will continue our efforts with Israel and others in the region to achieve a comprehensive peace, including a two-state solution, and to working together toward a future of peace, security and dignity for the people of Israel and all the people of the region. I offer my best wishes to President Peres, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the people of Israel as they celebrate their 63rd Independence Day. “
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Classless:
GOPolitico: Rick Perry has declined the White House’s request that he greet President Obama when Air Force One lands in Texas on Tuesday, the Republican governor’s office says.
“We did try to arrange something with the White House,” said Lucy Nashed, a spokeswoman for Perry. “They asked us if we wanted to meet him out on the tarmac in El Paso, but we weren’t able to work anything out, based on the fact that it’s probably going to be a 10-minute greeting.”
Think Progress: This morning, Fox News hosted Rep. Allen West to talk about the budget cuts that the Tea Party wants. In order to frame the discussion as supporting West’s position, which is anti-compromise, the right-wing network cited a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll that it claimed showed that most Americans do not want the Republicans to compromise. Host Martha MacCallum claimed the poll showed that “56 percent of Americans say that [Republicans] should stick to their positions.” Watch it:
The problem with the poll that Fox cited is that it doesn’t say anything like what they claim it does. In fact, it appears that they actually switched the numbers around. The poll in question does find that 56 percent of respondents do not want to see the GOP compromise, but the question was directed to self-identified Republicans — meaning that Fox essentially took the number for Republicans and claimed that it represented all Americans:
But hey, it’s hardly the first time Fox reversed poll results to fit its agenda – here
Bloomberg: Fewer Americans filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments for a third week in the last four, indicating progress in the labor market.
Applications for jobless benefits decreased 16,000 in the period ended March 12 to 385,000 …. the four-week average of claims dropped to the lowest level since July 2008
Fewer firings along with increased hiring and a lower unemployment rate may help lift household spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the economy. Federal Reserve policy makers this week said the expansion is getting stronger and the labor market is “improving gradually.”
“As demand has picked up, and the labor component of the economy has been relatively tight, businesses are now seeking to add more to their employment ranks,” said Russell Price, a senior economist at Ameriprise Financial Inc
President Obama arrives back at the White House after a trip to Florida March 4
Washington Post: The missing piece of the U.S. economic recovery – job creation – is finally falling into place.
Employers added 192,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate edged down to 8.9 percent from 9 percent, marking the third straight month of decline.
The jobs report was the most promising since the recession began more than three years ago and the most solid evidence yet that the recovery is gaining momentum.
….economists and executives see the new data as confirmation of an underlying trend that had been visible anecdotally and in various other surveys: Private employers are gaining confidence and beginning to hire.
…The unemployment rate has now declined nearly a full percentage point since November, the steepest drop over a three-month span since 1983.
Many analysts had viewed the rapid decline in the unemployment rate in December and January as too good to be true, expecting the February number to inch back up to 9.1 percent.
…hiring in the private sector was strong and broad-based. Private employers added 222,000 jobs … Every major sector of private industry except retail added positions….
Since late last year, the monthly reports had provided a muddied picture of the U.S. economy. But the quicker pace of job gains reported Friday now matches other encouraging measures of growth, such as surveys of businesses and weekly reports on unemployment insurance benefits.
“It’s a very fair representation of where the economy is,” said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo.
NYT: “Economic recoveries can be like a snowball rolling down a hill, in that it takes time to get some momentum,” said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics. “People hesitate until they feel that the recovery’s durable enough, and then they have a tendency to jump in. Maybe we’re finally getting to that jumping-in moment.”
….Threats to a more robust recovery remain, of course, including a surge in energy and food prices, …. but for now, the improvement is notable….
Economists say the unemployment rate could rise temporarily in the next few months, as stronger job growth lures some discouraged workers to look for jobs again…….federal employees may also be at risk of significant layoffs if Republican leaders in Congress are successful with their proposed budget cuts. Economists at Goldman Sachs and elsewhere have warned that such budget cuts could ripple through the economy and lead to layoffs in the private sector.
CBS: Sarah Palin has turned to Facebook and Twitter to criticize President Obama’s 2012 budget proposal. Here’s what she wrote on Twitter: “Here’s how minuscule the White House’s $775 million a year cuts are: less than 1/10 of 1% of this year’s budget deficit.”
And on Facebook: “If you want to know how minuscule their proposed $775 million-a-year budget ‘cuts’ really are, please look at this chart. The proposed cuts are so insignificant – less than 1/10 of 1% of this year’s $1.65 trillion budget deficit – that they are essentially invisible on the pie chart. That speaks volumes about today’s budget.”
Palin links in both places to a chart posted on The Blaze, Glenn Beck’s website, five days ago – before the budget proposal came out. It uses an op-ed by White House Budget Director Jacob Lew to suggest that Mr. Obama was proposing to cut $775 million from the budget, and goes on to mock that amount as insignificant.
The problem? Lew wrote in his op-ed that he was only discussing “a small fraction of the scores of cuts” in the budget proposal, not the total proposed cuts … the proposed cuts, in total, add up to about $75 billion … the simple fact is that Palin using an incorrect figure as the basis of her critique.
Marketwatch: New applications for regular state unemployment-insurance benefits moved below the closely watched level of 400,000 claims this week, cheering economists who say the data signal a strengthening employment environment. Initial claims for benefits fell 36,000 to a seasonally adjusted 383,000 in the week ended Feb. 5, the lowest level since July 2008, according to the Labor Department.
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Slowly but surely …. check those unemployment figures when Bush left office.
WH: Today’s employment report shows that the unemployment rate fell sharply to 9.0 percent and private sector payrolls increased by 50,000 in January. Revisions to private sector payroll data show that 1.1 million jobs were added during 2010, the strongest private sector job growth since 2006. The 0.8 percentage point decline in the unemployment rate over the past two months is a welcome development; however, the rate remains unacceptably high.
Reuters: Despite the conflicting signals in the Labor Department’s report on Friday, economists agreed a recovery in the labor market was proceeding apace if not gaining speed. Many investors also saw the data as a sign of strength …. a household survey, which is used to determine the jobless rate, showed nearly 600,000 more people reported they were employed.
That surge in employment pushed the unemployment rate to 9 percent from 9.4 percent in December. The rate has dropped 0.8 percentage point since November, the biggest two-month decline since 1958.
…Data on manufacturing and retail sales has suggested the economy’s strong momentum continued into the new year. Economists said January’s employment report, excluding the weather effect, was consistent with the economy growing above 3 percent.
“We see significant potential strength in this report and will be looking to see whether the drop in the unemployment rate persists,” said Michael Gapen, an economist a Barclays Capital in New York. “If it does, then it will be a further signal that underlying job growth is stronger than reported and conditions in labor markets are better than advertised by the establishment survey.”
Last month’s drop in the unemployment rate was encouraging because it reflected more people finding work, even after adjustments for updated population controls.
…well, apart from the 42 million Americans who watched it last night (figures just released). Thirty-one million watched the President’s Tucson speech.
The Obama Diary 
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