Courtesy of Mish.
The wide discrepancy between jobs and employment continues for a third month.
Jobs vs. Employment Discussion
Before diving into the details, it is important to understand limits on data, and how the BLS measures jobs in the establishment survey vs. employment in the household survey.
Establishment Survey: If you work one hour that counts as a job. There is no difference between one hour and 50 hours.
Establishment Survey: If you work multiple jobs you are counted twice. Neither the BLS nor ADP weed out duplicate social security numbers.
Household Survey: If you work one hour or 80 you are employed.
Household Survey: If you work a total of 35 hours you are considered a full time employee. If you work 25 hours at one job and 10 hours at another, you are a fulltime employee.
Following are numbers from today’s BLS jobs releases.
December 2013 vs. December Prior Years
| Category | DEC 2008 | DEC 2009 | DEC 2010 | DEC 2011 | DEC 2012 | DEC 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employed Household | 143,369 | 138,013 | 139,266 | 140,836 | 143,212 | 144,586 |
| Jobs Establishment | 134,425 | 129,373 | 130,395 | 132,498 | 134,691 | 136,877 |
Monthly Averages December 2013 vs. December Prior Years
| Category | DEC 2009 | DEC 2010 | DEC 2011 | DEC 2012 | DEC 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yoy Change Household | (5,356) | 1,253 | 1,570 | 2,376 | 1,374 |
| Yoy Change establishment | (5,052) | 1,022 | 2,103 | 2,193 | 2,186 |
| Monthly Average Household | -446 | 104 | 131 | 198 | 115 |
| Monthly Average Establishment | -421 | 85 | 175 | 183 | 182 |
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