ECN 211

Economics 211 Macroeconomic Principles Quiz #2 Due: Next Class Meeting

Name ___________________________________

Instructor: Brian B. Young

The value of this quiz is 5 points.

Friday, February 3rd, at 8:30AM EST (6:30AM MST), the BLS will release its January labor market data. You can watch the announcement, along with pre- and post-announcement commentary, live on CNBC or Bloomberg TV. Bloomberg streams at www.bloomberg.com/tv/. You can, also, find the relevant information at marketwatch.com, wsj.com, or www.ft.com/home/us. Of course, you should, also, read the “employment situation” report at www.bls.gov/bls/newsrels.htm. Refer to www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.a.htm for data from the household survey (CPS) and to www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.b.htm for data from the payroll (“establishment”) survey (CES) and use those data to complete the following table:

Statistic Jan 2017 Dec 2016 Change from Dec to Jan

CPS (household survey) √

CES (payroll survey)

√ Unemployment Rate (U3)

Number of persons unemployed

Unemployment Rate (U6)1

Labor Force Participation Rate

Number of person in labor force

Change in total nonfarm payrolls

Average weekly hours, all employees

Average hourly earnings, all employees

Comment on whether you consider the January report to be “good news” or “bad news” for the economy. I.e., did the announcement “beat” expectations or was it a disappointment? How did equity markets react to this report and why? What are the implications for the FOMC’s March 15th meeting?

1 Refer to www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm for data on U6 and other measures of labor underutilization.