Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

February’s jobs report showed a continuation of strong employment numbers and weak wage performance in manufacturing. The latest 31,000 monthly jobs gain kept up a streak of strong sequential jobs increases that began in July. Manufacturing’s 224,000 year-on-year payrolls increase was its best such improvement since May, 1998’s 262,000. Revisions boosted the sector’s employment by 28,000 for December and January. Manufacturing has now regained 50.63 percent of the net jobs it lost during the Great Recession, and it since last February, has raised its share of overall U.S. employment from 8.49 percent to 8.51 percent. The automotive sector, moreover, ended a technical jobs recession that had begun in April, 2016.

Yet current dollar wages flat-lined sequentially in February for manufacturing, while they grew by 0.15 percent for the overall private sector. And the yearly manufacturing wage advance of 1.67 percent was the slowest since July, 2015’s 1.49 percent. Further, in real terms, both manufacturing wages and private sector wages are in technical recession, with the former down on net since January, 2016 and the latter since last May.

Here’s my analysis of the latest monthly (February) manufacturing figures contained in this morning’s employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

>February’s strong monthly employment gains and major upward revisions combined to bolster considerably manufacturing’s recent jobs performance.

>Industry’s payrolls grew by 31,000 sequentially in February, while its January jobs increase was revised up from 15,000 to 25,000, and December’s from 21,000 to 39,000.

>Largely as a result, manufacturing payrolls jumped by 224,000 on an annual basis – the best such performance since May, 1998’s 262,000.

>Between the previous Februarys, manufacturing jobs grew by just 23,000.

>Moreover, the year-on-year figures mean that manufacturing employment has been growing faster than employment in the economy’s non-farm sector (the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American employment universe).

>Last February, manufacturing accounted for 8.49 percent of total non-farm payrolls. This February, its share stood at 8.51 percent.

>Manufacturing has now regained more than half (50.63 percent) of the 2.293 million jobs it lost since the late-2007 onset of the Great Recession through the sector’s employment bottom in February and March, 2010.

>In addition, the automotive sector – which led domestic manufacturing’s early recovery rebound from the Great Recession – ended its employment recession in February.

>A 6,200 monthly jobs gain in February plus upward January revisions helped the motor vehicles and parts industries out of a period of net employment decline that had begun in April, 2016.

>Yet manufacturing’s sterling employment performance contrasts strikingly with its still-dismal wage performance.

>Whereas overall private sector wages rose 0.15 percent sequentially in February, manufacturing wages recorded no change.

>Industry’s wage revisions were mixed, with January’s 0.11 percent growth now judged to be 0.22 percent, December’s 0.11 percent advance now pegged at 0.19 percent, but November’s 0.15 percent gain revised to zero.

>The year-on-year manufacturing wage picture is no better. Since last February, industry’s pre-inflation hourly pay is up just 1.67 percent – the slowest such rate since July, 2015’s 1.49 percent.

>Worse, between the previous Februarys, manufacturing wages grew a much faster 2.88 percent.

>Current dollar private sector wages have risen 2.61 percent on an annual basis.

>As a result, since the start of the current economic recovery, in mid-2009, pre-inflation private sector wages are up 25.80 percent more than manufacturing wages. A year ago, the gap was only 21.32 percent.

>Manufacturing’s real wage record lately has been even dimmer in absolute and relative terms.

>The latest data go through January, but that month, inflation-adjusted pay in industry fell 0.37 percent sequentially – a bigger drop than that for the overall private sector (0.28 percent).

>Year-on-year, real wages are up 0.66 percent in the private sector in toto versus a 0.29 percent dip for manufacturing.

>And worse still, although both the private sector and manufacturing are suffering real wage recession, the former’s began only last May – with after-inflation hourly pay down 0.28 percent since then.

>For manufacturing, such pay is down 0.09 percent since January, 2016.

>Further, since the current recovery’s mid-2009 onset, overall real private sector wages have risen more than ten times faster (3.98 percent) than manufacturing wages (0.38 percent).

>Over the longer term, moreover, manufacturing remains a significant jobs laggard. Whereas industry has now regained more than half the jobs it lost during the recession and its aftermath, the overall private sector has more than doubled its recessionary job losses. Since shedding 8.780 million positions on net from December, 2007 through February, 2010, it has created 18.569 million.

>In addition, manufacturing employment is still 8.24 percent below its pre-recession peak of 13.746 million jobs, overall private sector employment has risen 8.43 percent during that period.