April 2013 Employment Trends

By Stephen Singer, May 20, 2013

 

Major Trends:

• Non-farm payroll increased in April 2013 by 165,000 nationally. This compares to an average of 169,000 over the prior 12 month period.
• The unemployment rate of 7.5% decreased slightly from March.
• Average weekly earnings decreased slightly from $677.35 to $676.2 in April.

Sector Trends:

• Job growth rose by 73,000 in the professional and business services for the month and has added 587,000 jobs over the past year.  This category includes temporary help services adding 31,000 jobs, as well as professional and technical services adding 23,000 jobs.
• Employment in food services and drinking places rose by 32,000.
•  Employment in retail trade increased by 29,000.
• Healthcare job growth rose by 19,000 which has added 288,000 jobs over the last 12 months.
• Employment in construction was down slightly at 6000. Construction has averaged growth of 27,000 October to March.
• Other sectors showed no major gain or loss.

For the sectors that most impact debtors, temporary jobs, food service, retail and healthcare remain the sectors with the greatest potential for new employment. Construction which has been strong a source of new employment was actually down in April.

These trends are detailed in Table B.

Regional Trends:

Since most of our clients focus on collections within one state or region, we provide major regional trends. The table below provides a list of states with statistically significant employment changes in the month of April 2013. Texas and New York lead the nation in employment gain. Wisconsin and Minnesota lead the nation in employment loss.

These trends are detailed in Table D.