Employment Change by Sector, January to February 2012

After publishing the BLS numbers on employment change yesterday morning, I noted that the press coverage was far more enthusiastic than the numbers actually warranted. After all, the increase was lower than the month before. Chalk that down to election-year hype. We’re committed to the myth that government can create jobs. My view is that government can certainly destroy jobs—by failure to enforce the laws or, by neglect, creating an environment favorable to corruption. That, surely, explains the Great Recession. But as for creating jobs, the government only does so by actually hiring people. But this just an aside. Herewith the details on the employment change by sectors:

Here, again, I think we should curb our enthusiasm. Four of the 12 private sectors showed actual losses in employment. The largest increase was in Professional and Business Services, the addition of 82,000 jobs—but my excitement certainly drooped when I noted that 45,200 of those jobs, thus more than half, came from Temporary Help Services.

And, sure enough, Government once more lost employment. So much for Government creating jobs.

Here, of course, I would emphasize that my reactions are not, repeat not, motivated by political partisanship. If there is one party that I look upon with disfavor, it is the News Media. It almost never tells it like it is.

BLS stands for Bureau of Labor Statistics.