US Job Creation Falls in February — Gallup

The latest results from a random daily survey of 500 US workers by Gallup, indicates that more workers were getting fired than getting hired in February. The Gallup Job Creation Index fell from a reading of +16 in January to +14 in February.

The February survey showed that 32% of workers say their employers are hiring new workers and 18% say that employers are firing workers. In January, 33% said their employers were hiring and 17% said their employers were firing. The difference is the index score for the month.

The Gallup findings square with the company’s earlier survey on unemployment, which indicated that unemployment in February will be higher than the 8.3% reported in January. However, this morning’s report from ADP on non-farm job gains showed a jump of 216,000 jobs in February, about what economists expected.

The effect of higher gasoline prices, the number of Americans trying to re-enter the job market, and other factors could work against a higher jobs report from the US Department of Labor this week. When Gallup says things are down a little and ADP says things are up a little, it’s also possible that we won’t see any significant change in the “official” numbers.