Payrolls first significant step to health--Hampel to Forbes

NEW YORK (4/5/10)--Employment increased in March, but it will take years to recover the jobs that were lost, let alone produce meaningful expansion in the labor market, according to Bill Hampel, Credit Union National Association chief economist.

"We lost almost 8.5 million jobs in just over two years," Hampel told Forbes Friday. The job market report released Friday by the Labor Department indicated expansion--employment increased by 162,000 in March. Hampel said it is the "first significant step back toward health."

Hampel advised looking back at how far the labor market has come and how far it has to go. In late 2008 and early 2009, there were five consecutive months with more than 600,000 jobs lost. In January 2009, nonfarm payrolls shed more than 750,000 jobs, Forbes said.

Payrolls in March increased after a revised 14,000 dip in February that was smaller than originally estimated, according to the Labor Department's report (Bloomberg.com April 2). The increase included 48,000 temporary workers hired to conduct the 2010 U.S. Census.

The report also indicated that state and local governments reduced employment by 9,000 in March while the federal government added 48,000 workers. The average work week for all workers also increased to 34 hours in March from 33.9 hours the previous month. There was an increase in long-term unemployment--the number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or more reached a record 44.1%.

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