The nation’s unemployment rate dropped for the fifth straight month to 8.3 percent, its lowest level in three years, the Labor Department reported Friday, with widespread hiring across the economy. The number of jobs grew by 243,000, the government said . Read full article > >

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U.S. adds 243K jobs in January; unemployment rate drops to 8.3%

Indications are that the nation’s gloomy jobs picture continues to brighten, but experts disagree on two crucial points: the pace of improvement and whether the recent gain in momentum will continue through 2012. The Labor Department will add a piece to the puzzle Friday when it releases its monthly jobs report offering the official take on what happened last month in the nation’s job market. Read full article > >

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Employment outlook remains mixed

The monthly jobs report from the Labor Department on Friday may offer a decided upturn, but there are reasons to be cautious about the harbingers of that result and the actual jobs created.

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Economix Blog: Signs of Hope on Jobs, and Some Caveats

WASHINGTON — The number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped last week to its lowest level since April 2008, extending a downward trend that shows the job market strengthening. First-time applications for unemployment benefits fell 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 364,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the third straight weekly drop. Read full article > >

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Unemployment applications drop to lowest since April ‘08 as job market continues to strengthen

The Labor Department said payrolls grew by 120,000 in November, a new indicator of economic resilience, but the work force contracted.

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Signs of Hope in Jobs Report; Unemployment Drops to 8.6%

WASHINGTON — The number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose for the second straight week, a sign the hiring market is recovering at a slow and uneven pace. Weekly applications for unemployment benefits rose by 6,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 402,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Applications had been below 400,000 for three straight weeks. Read full article > >

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More people seek unemployment aid for 2nd straight week, a sign the job market remains weak

WASHINGTON — Consumers paid less for gas, cars and computers last month, as overall prices dropped for the first time since June. Inflation is easing after prices rose sharply this spring. The Labor Department said Wednesday that the Consumer Price Index dropped 0.1 percent in October. A steep drop in gas prices led the decline. Food prices rose, but at the slowest pace this year. Read full article > >

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Consumers paid less for gas and cars in October, pushing down overall prices

WASHINGTON — The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week fell to the lowest level since April, a sign that employers could be stepping up hiring. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications dropped to a seasonally adjusted 390,000. It was the third decline in four weeks. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell to 400,000, also the lowest point since April. Read full article > >

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Applications for unemployment benefits fall to 390,000, lowest level since April

WASHINGTON — The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week, a sign that the job market remains weak. Weekly applications increased by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 401,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The modest gain comes after applications plummeted by 33,000 in the previous week. The drop partly reflected technical difficulties with the department’s seasonal adjustment process. Read full article > >

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More people applied for unemployment benefits last week to leave figures high

Weekly applications for unemployment benefits dropped sharply to a seasonally-adjusted 391,000, according to figures released by the Labor Department Thursday. That is 37,000 fewer claims than were filed the previous week and is the lowest number since April 2. Though that could be an encouraging sign for the nation’s ailing economy and its soaring unemployment rate, a Labor Department spokesman cautioned that some of the upturn may be a result of technical challenges associated with the seasonal adjustment of the data. Read full article > >

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Jobless claims drop to lowest level since April

Unemployment in the Washington region rose to 6 percent in August from 5.9 percent the month before, according to a Labor Department report released Wednesday, putting the brakes on a recovery that had spurred widespread hiring across sectors this year. The region gained a net of 100 jobs from August 2010 to August 2011. Although modest, it’s a major improvement from the net loss of 11,100 jobs from July to July. Still, during the 12-month period ending in August, the region dropped 2,600 jobs in its traditionally most reliable sector: the federal government. Read full article > >

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D.C.-area unemployment rises to 6% in August

Bad news for the economic recovery. Unemployment rose to 9.1 percent in May from 9 percent in April. The Labor Department said last month’s severe weather, high gasoline prices, and vehicle supply disruptions due to Japan’s earthquake are partly to…

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Economy Adds 54,000 Jobs in May

WASHINGTON — The District’s unemployment rate rose slightly in April, while rates dipped in Maryland and Virginia, according to a Labor Department report released Friday. Overall, the jobless rate fell in more than three-quarters of the nation’s states, adding to evidence that companies are feeling more confident in the U.S. economy. Unemployment rates dropped in 39 states in April. It’s the largest number of states to see decrease since November 2003. Rates rose in three states and the District, where the rate increased to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent in March. Read full article > >

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April unemployment rises slightly in D.C., dips in Md., Va.

With the U.S. economic recovery starting to show cracks, Friday’s monthly unemployment report will be a key test of whether the slowed growth is causing companies to pull back on hiring — a sign that it could be time to hit the panic button. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment insurance benefits spiked to 474,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, the highest total since August and up from 431,000 the previous week. The Labor Department has attributed the rise to temporary factors, such as layoffs in New York state tied to spring break, a new benefit program in Oregon, and temporary shutdowns at auto plants. Read full article > >

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Unemployment report for April will be key to gauging status of economic recovery

Stephen I. Schlossberg, 90, an influential figure in the labor movement who held top positions with the United Auto Workers, served in the Reagan-era Labor Department and helped build a Washington presence for the International Labor Organization, died Dec. 10 at his home in Sarasota, Fla. He had congestive heart failure, said his son, Mark J. Schlossberg. Read full article > >

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A ‘Renaissance guy’ of organized labor