private sector

Are taxpayers "footing the bill for these federal employees while watching their own salaries remain flat and their benefits erode," as Florida representative Dennis Ross stated in discussion over a Republican call to get federal employee pay in line with private-sector pay? Or are they, as...

Everyone knows that the typical American household has been running in place or falling behind financially, thanks to stagnant wages and rising prices. But a new study from the the Economic Policy Institute shows that the problem has been endemic not for years, but for decades.

Private employers added a much-better-than-expected 217,000 jobs in February, ADP has reported. That's the fifth straight month of job gains in the private sector -- another sign that the U.S. labor market continues to slowly heal.

American labor unions have been in decline for a half-century now. About the only large unions still growing have been those in the public sector. Until now. Cash-strapped states are attacking unions where it hurts by trying to strip them of the right to collectively bargain.

Private employers added 187,000 jobs in January, ADP announced Wednesday, 47,000 more then economists had predicted. That marks the fourth straight month of significant job gains -- a trend that suggests the U.S. labor market is recovering.

After increases during 2007 and 2008 in the number of unionized workers, 2010 is following 2009 in showing a big drop. Governments now employ more union labor than the private sector does, but both categories showed declines in 2010. It's a far cry from labor's glory years.

ADP's latest report showed a total that was nearly triple what economists were expecting. It's only one month's data, and it's too soon to call it a hiring boom. However, the report offers more hope and some evidence that the nation's long job drought is ending.

ADP reported the biggest private sector job gain in three years, and it revised October's total to 82,000 -- nearly double the initial estimate. A retrenchment is always possible, but it now appears that the long period of job losses is ending.

The hard-hit U.S. job market may be starting to rebound. For the first time in five months, in October the economy added jobs, posting an overall increase of 151,000 -- and 159,000 in the private sector. The official unemployment rate, however, is stuck at 9.6%.

The long period of large monthly losses appears to be ending, as the private sector added 43,000 jobs in October, according to ADP's latest report. And September's job loss was greatly revised, from an initial estimate of 39,000 down to just 2,000.