Existing-home sales rose in April and remain above a year ago, while home prices continued to rise, according to the National Association of Realtors. The improvements in sales and prices were broad based across all regions.

Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 3.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million in April from a downwardly revised 4.47 million in March, and are 10.0 percent higher than the 4.20 million-unit level in April 2011. Read the rest of this entry »

Employers took 1,388 mass layoff actions in April involving 135,600 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Each mass layoff involved at least 50 workers from a single employer. Mass layoff events in April increased by 115 from March, and the number of associated initial claims increased by 14,290. In April, 287 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 33,243 initial claims.

The national unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in April, little changed from the prior month but down from 9.0 percent a year earlier. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 115,000 over the month and by 1,816,000 over the year.

Industry Distributions

The number of mass layoff events in April was 1,421, not seasonally adjusted, resulting in 146,358 initial claims for unemployment insurance. Over the year, the number of average weekly mass layoff events increased by 5 to 355, while associated average weekly initial claims decreased by 1,394 to 36,590. Ten of the 19 major industry sectors in the private economy reported over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease occurring in manufacturing. In April, the six-digit industry with the largest number of private nonfarm initial claims was school and employee bus transportation.

In April, the manufacturing sector accounted for 19 percent of mass layoff events and 23 percent of associated initial claims in the private economy. Within manufacturing, the numbers of mass layoff claimants were highest in food and in transportation equipment. Thirteen of the 21 manufacturing subsectors experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease occurring in transportation equipment.

Geographic Distribution

Among the census regions, the Northeast registered the largest number of initial claims in April. Two of the 4 regions experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, with the largest decrease occurring in the Midwest.

Among the states, California recorded the highest number of mass layoff initial claims in April, followed by New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly initial claims, led by Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Stern And Company
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Increasingly I hear from reporters that companies or their Public Relations persons or agencies are either not responding at all to requests for comments or interviews, even regarding news releases that are issued by either entity. Further, often the reporter’s phone calls are simply not returned; this similarly occurs when there is so-called “good news.”

The protocol here is simple and ironclad: If you issue a news release, be prepared to discuss it with a reporter, either on or off the record or with a “no comment.” And, there is no excuse for a public relations function not to return a call from the media, none. If that’s occurring in your organization or with your outside firm, to loosely quote Lyndon Johnson, the “woodshed’s” in order.

Reporters understand that there are some matters on which a company cannot comment, but they want at least a “no comment” response. Moreover, if a news release is issued on which a comment can be made, they want that as well.

Consider this: If you’ve issued “good news” and it prompts a media call you’re more than likely to get more space or “ink,” or airtime on that piece. If it’s “bad news” you’ve issued, even more so do you want to take a reporter’s call: It gives you the opportunity to mitigate that negative news and to communicate your message to your key publics.

That’s what Media Relations is all about.

And, of course, Stern And Company would be happy to discuss this with you further. Drop us an email at steve @ sdsternpr.com.

Regional and state unemployment rates were little changed in April. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rate decreases, five states posted rate increases, and eight states had no change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia registered unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, while only one state experienced an increase and one had no change. The national jobless rate was little changed from March at 8.1 percent but was 0.9 percentage point lower than in April 2011.

In April 2012, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 32 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 18 states. The largest over-the-month increase in employment occurred in Indiana (+17,100), followed by Texas (+13,200) and Georgia (+7,800). The largest over-the-month decrease in employment occurred in Maryland (-6,000), followed by Wisconsin (-5,900) and New Hampshire (-4,800). Hawaii experienced the largest over-the-month percentage increase in employment (+0.8 per-cent), followed by North Dakota (+0.7 percent) and Indiana (+0.6 percent). New Hampshire experienced the largest over-the-month percentage decline in employment (-0.8 percent), followed by Alaska (-0.7 percent) and Vermont (-0.5 percent). Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 43 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 7 states. The largest over-the-year percentage increase occurred in North Dakota (+7.2 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment occurred in Rhode Island (-0.9 percent). Read the rest of this entry »

In April, Nevada’s unemployment rate fell below 12 percent for the first time in nearly three years. The unemployment rate declined for the eighth consecutive month, with a fall from 12 percent in March to 11.7 percent in April. The jobless rate is down from a peak of 14 percent reached in October 2010, and the number of unemployed Nevadans has fallen from 193,600 to 158,600 over the period.

New job growth in Nevada is being driven by the private sector, which has added employment in every month since January 2011. So far this year, private sector job levels are trending about 13,800 higher than a year ago. That is on top of approximately 12,000 new jobs added in 2011.  Those improvements are being partially offset by declines in the public sector, which has lost 6,400 jobs since January 2011.

The unemployment rate in each of the state’s three metropolitan areas fell below 12 percent and reached levels not seen in nearly three years. In the Las Vegas region, the unemployment rate fell to 11.6 percent in April, down from 12.0 percent in March. The unemployment rate in the Reno-Sparks area fell by six-tenths to 11.4 percent in April. In the Capital region, the unemployment rate fell six-tenths to 11.8 percent in April, down from 12.4 percent in March. In the Elko micropolitan area (Elko and Eureka counties), the unemployment rate declined three-tenths to 6.3 percent. The rate is 5.2 percentage points lower than the statewide average and 1.4 points lower than the national average, 7.7 percent.

“Much has been made of late about the underlying reasons behind the downtrend in the unemployment rate,” said Bill Anderson, chief economist for the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR). “While job growth has been positive of late, contributing to the drop in the jobless rate, there are some structural forces at play, as well. Specifically, the labor force participation rate (LFPR) has been trending down both at the state and national level for many years.”

At the beginning of the recession, about 66 percent of the U.S. population was in the labor force (either employed or unemployed). As of April, the LFPR was just 63.6 percent, suggesting individuals (presumably without a job) are dropping out of the labor force and are not counted amongst the unemployed. In Nevada, the labor force participation rate has been trending down since the early 1980′s, after reaching a peak of 73.7 percent. The current LFPR stands at 64.9 percent, down from 67.8 since the start of the recession. While recent declines in the LFPR can be attributed to a poor job market, longer term trends point to changes in the structure of the economy and demographics of the population.

Seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment in Nevada fell by 600 from March to April. Private-sector employment grew by 200 in April, but government employment fell by 800. Over the last year, private sector employment increased by 10,500 jobs. However, these gains were offset by a decrease in government employment of 5,100. April’s lackluster jobs report comes on the heels of a strong report in March, which was revised up by 2,700 jobs, pushing that month’s gain from 5,000 to 7,700.

Results were mixed for Nevada’s major industry sectors. Mining employment rose by 100 in April and set a new series peak dating back to 1990. The trade, transportation and utilities sector added 2,900 jobs, with a strong showing from retail trade (+1,600), transportation/warehousing/utilities (+1,100); and an increase of 200 jobs in wholesale trade. Education and health services added 1,200 jobs in April — most of it coming from the health care and social assistance sub-sector which added 1,100 jobs. Even with the increase, the health care and social assistance employment level is still below the peak set in October 2011.

“On the down side, a number of industries shed employment in April. Construction (-900) continued to trend down, setting a new post-boom low,” Anderson said. “Employment in professional and business services was down by 2,000 in April. Within the sector, administrative, waste management and remediation services lost 2,100 jobs. Although employment in accommodation and food services fell by 1,400 in April, it has gained 7,800 jobs over the last year (a gain of 2.7 percent). Government employers cut employment by 800 jobs over-the-month. Federal government employment was unchanged, and state government employment decreased slightly (-200). Most of the losses occurred in local government (-600). Local government employment has steadily decreased, losing 4,200 jobs in the last year and is currently at levels not seen since October 2005.

Employment levels in two of Nevada’s metropolitan areas increased over-the-month, with Las Vegas adding 400 jobs and Reno adding 500. Carson City lost 200 jobs and employment is down 3.5 percent from a year ago. Reno employment is also down from a year ago, with 900 fewer jobs than in April of 2011 (a decrease of 0.5 percent). Las Vegas has added 4,600 jobs since April of 2011 for a year-over-year growth rate of 0.6 percent.

Along with a growing labor market, measures of wages paid to employees continue to trend positive. The 12 month average of hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by six cents, to $19.56. Average hourly earnings have increased by $0.70 since April 2011, an increase of 3.6 percent. Additionally, contribution reports from employers enrolled in Nevada’s unemployment insurance program show moderate growth in covered wages. After declining in both 2009 and 2010, average weekly wages have rebounded of late. Wages in 2011 were up 1.3 percent from a year ago ($829 vs. $818), despite some weakness in the fourth quarter.

Total personal income in Nevada has increased on an over-the-year basis for seven straight quarters, despite a fall in transfer payments. Transfer payments as a share of personal income rose markedly during the recession, driven by increases in unemployment insurance benefits, and peaked at 16.6 percent in the final quarter of 2010. Since then, the level of transfer payments as a part of personal income has trended down and currently stands at 15.6 percent of the total.