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Investment Research — General Market Conditions
2 February 2015
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US labour market: keeps improving
Job report preview
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Our model estimates non-farm payroll for January at 215,000, which is
marginally below consensus at 231,000. Government job growth has averaged 9,000
per month over the past six months and our model suggests a slightly higher pace of
growth in January (+15,000).
We expect the unemployment rate to stay constant at 5.6%, after falling 0.2 points
in December. Over the past three months, labour force growth has averaged 95,000
per month, while household employment has grown 278,000 per month. With
employment growth likely to decline in January, the downward drift in the
unemployment rate could take a breather before continuing lower.
The largest surprise in the December release was a fall in average hourly earnings.
Hourly earnings in the private sector fell 0.2% m/m, taking the annual wage inflation
proxy to 0.5% in Q4, down from 1.5% in Q3. However, the more correct measure, the
Employment Cost Index released with the Q4 GDP data on Friday showed a much
more muted slowdown in wage inflation. Hence, we expect a significant rebound in
average hourly earnings in January.
Danske Bank forecasts (January)
Non-farm Payrolls
-Private
-Manufacturing
-Service
-Construction
-Mining and logging
-Government
Unemployment rate
DB
215
200
15
5,6%
Consensus
231
222
10
9
5,6%
Source: Macrobond Financial, Danske Bank
Markets calculations
We expect a rebound in hourly earnings
General condition of the US labour market

Employment growth has been strong over the past four months and leading
indicators of the labour market such as gains in temporary help services, the level of
initial jobless claims and the labour market differential from the Conference Board
Consumer confidence survey have all improved.

One might have thought that the improving labour market and GDP growth of 4.8%
annualised in the second half of last year had brought some discouraged workers back
into the labour force. However, labour participation rates have merely stabilised and
remain low for most age groups. This has accelerated the move lower in
unemployment and we are getting closer to the latest FOMC estimate of longer
term unemployment (NAIRU), which is at 5.4%.

However, other slack indicators suggest that there is still a significant
underutilisation of labour. The number of marginally attached workers and people
who work part time for economic reasons is still elevated. Although wage inflation
(measured by the wages and salary component of the Employment Cost Index) has
picked up recently, wage growth remains subdued compared with historical standards.
This raises the question of what the ‘true’ level of the NAIRU is. The FOMC will
have to deal with this question in March when it publishes new economic projections.
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Our model is predicting slightly below
consensus
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Senior Analyst
Signe Roed-Frederiksen
+45 45 12 82 29
[email protected]
Assistant Analyst
Louise Randrup Noe
[email protected]
Important disclosures and certifications are contained from page 8 of this report.
Prior
252
240
17
173
48
2
12
5,6%
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US labour market in one chart
The labour market keeps improving but significant slack remains – (outwards moves indicate stronger labour market)
December 2007
December 2009
Temporary help wanted
Leading indicators
January 2014
Payroll employment
June 2014
December 2014
Job openings
Employer behavior
Unable to fill job openings
Hires
Initial claims
The index compares
the labour market
conditions in recent
months with the prerecession peak in
employment in
December 2007
(Index 100) and the
post recession trough
in employment in
December 2009
(Index 0)
Hiring plans
Job finding
Job availability
Part time for economic reason
Quits
Utilization (slack)
Marginally attached
Confidence
Unemployment
Note: The diagram shows the level of tightness of different US labour market key figures at different times, compared with the level of the same figures in December
2007 (index=100) and December 2009 (index = 0). Counter cyclical figures (unemployment rate, jobless claims, marginally attached and work part time for economic
reasons) are inverted; thus, the higher index (the further from the middle) the better (tighter) is the state of the labour market
JOLTS data for December is an average of October and November data
Source: BLS (JOLTS), Macrobond Financial
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Models and leading indicators
Payrolls model
ISM employment and US non-farm payrolls
Source: Macrobond Financial, Danske Bank Markets calculations
Source: Macrobond Financial, ISM, BLS
Initial jobless claims
Small business hiring plans next 3 months
Source: Macrobond Financial, U.S. Department of Labor
Source: Macrobond Financial, NFIB
Wage pressure and unemployment rate
Worker confidence and unemployment rate
Source: Macrobond Financial, Danske Bank Markets
Source: Macrobond Financial
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Unemployment measures
Unemployment rate
Unemployment decomposed by duration
Source: Macrobond Financial, FOMC, BLS
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Long term unemployment rate
Short-term unemployment rate
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Long term unemployment as % of total unemployed
Marginally attached workers
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
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Participation
Participation rate, all
Participation rate, 25-34, men
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Participation rate, 35-44, men
Participation rate, 45-54 and 55+, men
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Employment measures
Non-farm payroll
ADP private payrolls
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Source: Macrobond Financial, ADP
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Part time employed for economic reasons
Employment to population ratio
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Wage growth and inflation
Average hourly earnings and Employment Cost Index
Hourly earnings, production and non-supervisory
Source: Macrobond Financial, BEA
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Fundamentals support higher wage growth
Worker confidence is slowly rising – will wages follow?
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Source: Macrobond Financial, Conference Board, BLS
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The employer’s perspective
Unemployment and time to fill vacancies
Short-term unemployment and time to fill vacancies
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
The rate of new job openings and hire rate (3M moving
average)
Temporary employment and unemployment
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
Source: Macrobond Financial, BLS
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Disclosures
This research report has been prepared by Danske Bank Markets, a division of Danske Bank A/S (‘Danske
Bank’). The authors of this research report Signe Roed-Frederiksen, Senior Analyst, and Louise Randrup Noe,
Assistant Analyst.
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