Although the unemployment rate dropped, from 5.3 percent to 5.2 percent, that’s only because so many Californians stopped looking for work. The national jobless rate was 5% in December. The monthly rate was up slightly compared with with November’s 9.3 percent, but was below the 10.2 percent reported in December 2015.
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Minnesota’s labor market finished 2016 strong, with employers adding 11,900 jobs in December, and 12,700 jobs in November.
Labor officials said the rate rose as the state’s labor force grew and the number of new layoffs increased.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said Texas lost 700 jobs in December after adding 35,100 in November. In November, the Columbus metro area rate was 5.3 percent, which was up from 5.2 percent in October.
Jobs in manufacturing decreased by 2,000.
After a couple of months of reduced employment, the leisure and hospitality sector jumped 300 jobs to 15,000 in December, which is 500 more than at the same time previous year. The government sector was second, adding about 2,000 jobs. Georgia’s labor force has grown by 209,436 since the first of the year, with 101,093 of that number coming in the last four months. The December 2016 rate was 3.6 percent compared to 3.5 percent in the last month of 2015. The state had experienced job growth in 20 of the past 21 months.
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He said another factor limiting job growth is that California is beginning to experience labor shortages in certain industries, including technology and construction. Over the year, Construction added 8,800 (+6.1%) jobs. This is the largest sector in Kentucky with almost 400,000 jobs accounting for one-fifth of all nonfarm employment. This category includes establishments engaged in services that support the day-to-day activities of other organizations, including temporary employment services and payroll processing. The Tampa area led the state in demand for high-skill, high-wage STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) occupations in December.
