In today's report we learn the BLS found an additional 35,000 jobs in January with their upward revision for the month.
Be that as it may....
Here's a link to the report.
Construction lost 62,000. The housing slowdown is starting to hit employment numbers. I would expect this number to continually worsen over the next year as the housing slowdown starts to bleed into the rest of the economy.
Here's how the BLS reported it:
In the goods-producing sector, construction employment fell by 62,000 in February after posting a gain of 28,000 in January. Unusually severe winter weather conditions in some areas of the country in February likely contributed to job losses in the industry. Employment declined in both residential (-21,000) and nonresidential (-25,000) specialty trades, and heavy construction lost 10,000 jobs. Employment in residential specialty trades has been declining since February 2006.
Manufacturing employment continued to trend down over the month (-14,000). Job losses occurred in wood products (-4,000), semiconductors and electronic components (-3,000), and textile mills (-3,000). Machinery added 5,000 jobs in February. In mining, employment rose by 4,000.
The rest of the gains were split between professional, business and leisure jobs.
While total private hourly earnings increased 6 cents, hours worked decreased by .1%. Decreased hours usually makes increased wages a wash.
In the service-providing sector, health care employment rose by 33,000 in February, as job growth continued throughout the component industries. Over the year, health care employment has increased by 340,000.
Employment in professional and business services continued to trend up in February (+29,000) with small gains occurring in most of its component industries. Over the past 12 months, this industry has added 460,000 jobs. In February, employment in services to buildings and dwellings grew by 11,000. Temporary help services employment was little changed over the month and over the year.
Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, food services and drinking places added 21,000 jobs in February. Over the year, food services employment has risen by 348,000. Employment in the information industry was up by 13,000 in February. Within financial activities, depository credit intermediation added 4,000 jobs. Over the month, employment was essentially unchanged in both wholesale and retail trade. Air transportation lost 7,000 jobs.
The last few employment reports have all showed a slowing economy -- even with the subsequent revisions. This report clearly falls within that as well. In addition, we're seeing housing really hit employment. Earlier this month housing starts dropped 16%. That means housing related employment will one decrease further.
Here's a chart from CBS Marketwatch of the last year of job growth:
