[lbo-talk] employment

[Mark S]

Doug Henwood wrote:
>
>Strong US employment report this morning - 274,000 new jobs in April, back 
>months revised up, employment/population ratio up strong. No significant 
>weak spots visible on first glance...but there have been several bursts of 
>employment that petered out (last spring, last fall). Is this another one 
>of those, or a real acceleration?
>
Manufacturing payrolls continued to be weak: down 6K.  Another risk is the 
effect of higher gas prices on wider retail demand, although gas prices may 
fall along with oil this month.  However, Citigroup commented that the 
payroll report is not useful for understanding economic developments outside 
labor statistics.

Three separate analysts have commented that the Fed must remain vigilant 
against "dwindling labor market capacity leading to higher wage growth."  
They are also disturbed by rising non-wage compensation.  One predicts that 
Greenspan will continue to raise rates as long as compensation growth 
remains "unsustainable."  Labor is clearly back in the gunsights...

M.

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