By Frank Stricker August 20, 2026 The government’s report on jobs and unemployment in July appeared on August 7, 2026. It was published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as The Employment Situation—July 2026. Some of the basics look pretty good. The official unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, which is, by mainstream standards, quite low… Read More The Latest Job Calamity—Mostly Home-Made
By Frank Stricker July 16, 2026 The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ jobs and unemployment report for June showed a kind of tale of two cities. The unemployment rate fell a tenth of a percentage point to 4.2%. If this were a true indicator and this were all we had, we could celebrate. Anything around 4%… Read More Jobs and No Jobs in June of 2026, and Beyond
By Frank Stricker June 15, 2026 Many of the numbers did not change much in the latest BLS jobs report. The official unemployment rate was 4.3%, and the rate has been around that number for the past year. Real unemployment, as illustrated in NJFAN’s Full Count under Hidden Unemployment, is twice as high. As usual,… Read More The Unemployment Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2026—and More
By Frank Stricker May 18, 2026 On Friday, May 8, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the official unemployment rate for April was 4.3%. By conventional standards, that is close to full employment. It is hard to believe that an economy that has been hammered by high tariffs and hyper-inflation in gas… Read More The Government’s April Jobs Report, and Ours. Why Don’t Things Look Worse?
Also: Unemployment as Policy: Federal Layoffs, AI, and Corporate Understaffing By Frank Stricker April 10, 2026 The jobs report for March was a mixed bag. The unemployment rate fell another tenth of a percentage point to 4.3%. And in almost every sub-category it fell a little too. NJFAN’s hidden unemployment rate did not see… Read More The Jobs Numbers for March 2026
