As you can expect, most economists were surprised at this morning's jobs numbers showing a net decline in nonfarm payrolls of 14,000 17,000 -- the first actual decline since August 2003. According to the Wall Street Journal (Payrolls Unexpectedly Decline, Increasing Odds of Recession - WSJ.com):
Wall Street economists had expected a much sturdier 75,000 rise in payrolls last month. Jobless claims, after all, hovered near 300,000 for much of January, well below December levels. And a report released Wednesday from ADP and Macroeconomic Advisers that attempts to mirror the jobs report signaled 130,000 private-sector jobs were created last month.
Lost in the headlines is another piece of bad news: the number of workers who are part-time for economic reasons continued to grow. As I've noted before, the growth of involuntary part time workers is a hidden factor in economic downturns in the I-Cubed Economy. So hidden that policymakers and journalists don't even talk about it -- or recognize that it is there. But in January 2008, a net 100,000 additional workers joined the ranks of the involuntarily underemployed. That should be at least as worrisome as the net 14,000 17,000 unemployed.
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