Anemic Delaware employment figures get a 2,900-job boost as payroll data is tallied

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No one is saying that the state’s economy is firing on all cylinders.

But the recent report from the Delaware Department of Labor shows that last year’s anemic job performance was not as bad as first reported.  

“Data from the complete payroll reports of Delaware employers for the fourth quarter of 2017 were recently released, and they show that the state’s job slowdown indicated by the business survey was exaggerated. Of particular importance is the December figure, since we typically measure annual job change from December to December,”  the Labor Department noted in its monthly jobs report.

 “The original survey estimates, done by BLS with minor input from this office, showed solid year-over-year (12-month) job gains early in 2017, dwindling to a 200 job loss by December, the report noted. “After benchmarking to the first three-quarters of payroll data, it now shows zero job change for the 12 months ending December 2017. The new payroll data, which are much more complete and accurate, show 2,900 jobs gained during that period.”

According to the report, the biggest variations were in accommodations and food services, which the survey estimates showed a loss of 1,200 jobs in 2017. The sector actually gained 30 jobs.

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Retail trade was originally down 1,000 jobs for the year but actually gained 290 jobs.  Transportation and Warehousing were estimated to have lost 1,100 jobs; the payroll data show 290 jobs lost in that sector.

“The takeaway should not be that the data are completely unreliable; survey-based estimates always have a degree of error. Instead, people should realize there is a price to pay for getting information quickly, and waiting for more complete data whenever possible will provide a truer picture,” the report stated.

The commentary was part of the monthly employment report of the Labor Department which showed the April jobless rate at  4.2 percent, down from 4.3 percent in March 2018.

There were 20,100 unemployed Delawareans in April 2018 compared to 22,200 in April 2017.

The US unemployment rate was 3.9 percent in April 2018, down from 4.1 percent in March 2018. In April 2017 the US unemployment rate was 4.4 percent, while Delaware’s rate was 4.6 percent.

In April 2018 seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment was 459,500, unchanged from March 2018. Since April 2017, Delaware’s total nonfarm jobs have increased by a net gain of 4,400, a rise of 1 percent.  Nationally, jobs during that period increased 1.6 percent.

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