They say bad news comes in threes, but what about good news?

While the unemployment rate edged up to 9.6 percent, there are a few things that cause us to take a “glass half full” perspective on U.S. employment this month. 

Yes, nonfarm payroll employment declined by -54,000 in August, BUT it was better than economist predictions that job loss could be up to -105,000

Secondly, June’s job loss was originally reported to be -221,000; it was revised to -175,000. And July’s number was revised from a loss of -131,000 to a decline of -54,000. (The Pollyanna in me is thinking about what August’s revision will be next month.)

Finally, while Government employment fell by -121,000, reflecting the departure of 114,000 temporary Census 2010 workers from federal government payrolls, private-sector payroll employment continued to trend up modestly by adding 67,000 jobs.

Dean Maki of Barclays Capital told Forbes: “On balance, the upward revisions make the report a bit stronger than we expected. It does not change the recent trend of moderate growth in private payrolls and is inconsistent with fears that a sharp slowdown in the economy is underway.”

Here’s a look at how some of the major sectors fared in August:

• Health care increased by 28,000, with the largest gains occurring in ambulatory health care services (+17,000) and hospitals (+9,000).
• Manufacturing employment dropped by -27,000. A decline in motor vehicles and parts (-22,000) offset a gain of similar magnitude in July as the industry geared up for its annual retooling.
• Temporary help services, which have added 392,000 jobs since a recent employment low in September 2009, added 17,000 jobs.
• Construction employment was up by 19,000, partially reflected by the return of the payrolls of 10,000 workers who were on strike in July.
• Retail trade was relatively unchanged. A job gain among motor vehicle and parts dealers (+8,000) was essentially offset by losses in building materials and garden supply stores (-6,000).

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Courtesy: The Work Buzz

In a culture that is filled with cubicle jobs that we’re quick to label boring, we can easily forget that some jobs are dangerous. Commuting through rush-hour traffic in a big city can feel like a life-or-death adventure every morning, but for many workers that risk disappears once they exit the six-land highway and pull into a parking lot.

For other workers, however, physical risks are part of the job. Whether you’re a police officer on patrol or a construction worker building a skyscraper, danger is a daily concern.

The new workplace injury statistics released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are a mix of good and bad news. The good news: Fatal workplace injuries were down 28 percent in 2009 compared to 2008. The bad news: 4,340 workers still died as a result of on-the-job injuries. So we’re happy to see a reduction in fatal injuries, but don’t we want that number down to zero?

Which sectors had the biggest improvements?
If you look only at the raw numbers, here are the occupations with the most to the fewest fatal occupational injuries last year:

• Transportation and material moving (1,376)
• Construction and extraction (988)
• Management (514)
• Installation, maintenance and repair (317)
• Sales and related (269)
• Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance (248)
• Protective service (243)
• Farming, fishing and forestry (229)

The change in percentage of fatal workplace injuries by industry reorders the list a bit:

• Transportation and material moving (28 percent decrease)
• Protective service (21 percent decrease)
• Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (18 percent decrease)
• Construction and extraction (16 percent decrease)
• Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance (6 percent increase)
• Resident military personnel (21 percent increase)

What does this tell us?
Although drawing conclusions from preliminary numbers is a tricky process, you can make some general observations.

As the BLS notes, the construction industry has experienced significant setbacks since the recession began in 2007. Therefore a reduction in fatalities could be linked to the reduction in construction jobs. Again, a mix of good and bad news.

Fewer deaths for law enforcement officers and fire fighters helped with the decrease in fatal injuries for protective services. And while many cities have struggled with budget issues to compensate and retain law enforcement officers, they have not laid off workers on the same scale that construction has. Therefore the decrease in fatalities seems to be a completely positive change that doesn’t correlate to fewer employed police officers and firefighters.

And

To read the full report from the BLS, visit their site here.

Related posts:

1. Workplace Fatalities Reach Record Low Another silver lining in the unemployment cloud: Workplace fatalities have…
2. U.S. loses 263,000 jobs in September We were waiting for two big announcements this morning at CareerBuilder….
3. Summer job season not too hot Whenever I think of summer jobs, the first thing that…

Courtesy: The Work Buzz

In a culture that is filled with cubicle jobs that we’re quick to label boring, we can easily forget that some jobs are dangerous. Commuting through rush-hour traffic in a big city can feel like a life-or-death adventure every morning, but for many workers that risk disappears once they exit the six-land highway and pull into a parking lot. For other workers, however, physical risks are part of the job. Whether you’re a police officer on patrol or a construction worker building a skyscraper, danger is a daily concern.

The new workplace injury statistics released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are a mix of good and bad news. The good news: Fatal workplace injuries were down 28 percent in 2009 compared to 2008. The bad news: 4,340 workers still died as a result of on-the-job injuries. So we’re happy to see a reduction in fatal injuries, but don’t we want that number down to zero?

Which sectors had the biggest improvements?
If you look only at the raw numbers, here are the occupations with the most to the fewest fatal occupational injuries last year:

• Transportation and material moving (1,376)
• Construction and extraction (988)
• Management (514)
• Installation, maintenance and repair (317)
• Sales and related (269)
• Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance (248)
• Protective service (243)
• Farming, fishing and forestry (229)

The change in percentage of fatal workplace injuries by industry reorders the list a bit:

• Transportation and material moving (28 percent decrease)
• Protective service (21 percent decrease)
• Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (18 percent decrease)
• Construction and extraction (16 percent decrease)
• Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance (6 percent increase)
• Resident military personnel (21 percent increase)

What does this tell us?
Although drawing conclusions from preliminary numbers is a tricky process, you can make some general observations.

As the BLS notes, the construction industry has experienced significant setbacks since the recession began in 2007. Therefore a reduction in fatalities could be linked to the reduction in construction jobs. Again, a mix of good and bad news.

Fewer deaths for law enforcement officers and fire fighters helped with the decrease in fatal injuries for protective services. And while many cities have struggled with budget issues to compensate and retain law enforcement officers, they have not laid off workers on the same scale that construction has. Therefore the decrease in fatalities seems to be a completely positive change that doesn’t correlate to fewer employed police officers and firefighters.

And

To read the full report from the BLS, visit their site here.

Related posts:

1. Workplace Fatalities Reach Record Low Another silver lining in the unemployment cloud: Workplace fatalities have…
2. U.S. loses 263,000 jobs in September We were waiting for two big announcements this morning at CareerBuilder….
3. Summer job season not too hot Whenever I think of summer jobs, the first thing that…

Courtesy: The Work Buzz