The Unemployment Rate decreased to a five-month low of 9.7% in January, after remaining unchanged at 10% in December, beating the expected increase to 10.1% as the number of unemployed persons decreased to 14.8 million. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, 8.4 million jobs have been lost. Nonfarm Payrolls, which were expected to increase by 11,000, remained essentially unchanged, decreasing by 20,000 in January, after decreasing by 150,000 in December, revised from a decrease of 85,000. However, the figure for November was revised to an increase of 64,000, up from a gain of 4,000. Employment decreased in construction, transportation and warehousing, while temporary help services and the retail sector added jobs. Employment losses in the first quarter of 2009 averaged 691,000 per month, compared with an average loss of 69,000 per month in the fourth quarter. The Average Workweek increased by 0.1 hours to 33.9 hours. Average Hourly Earnings increased by 0.2%.
Consumer credit figures are to be released today at 3:00 PM EST. Consumer credit had decreased at an annual rate of 8.5 % in the November. Revolving credit had decreased at an annual rate of 18.5%, and non-revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 3%.
Upcoming Releases
Consumer Credit (02/05 at 3:00 PM EST)
Wholesale Inventories (02/09 at 10:00 AM EST)
Trade Balance (02/10 at 8:30 AM EST)
Treasury Budget (02/10 at 2:00 PM EST)
