Chart of The Day - Job Growth Plunges in the 2000s Decade

Chart Courtesy of ChartofTheDay.com

On Friday, January 8, 2010, the U.S. Labor Department reported that nonfarm payrolls (jobs) decreased by 85,000 in December while the data for November was revised upward and now shows a gain of 4,000 jobs.

For some perspective, the chart herein illustrates the percent increase in the number of jobs for every decade since the 1940s (the data goes back to 1939).

As today's chart illustrates, the number of jobs at the end of a decade has been anywhere from +20% to +38% greater than 10 years prior.

That +20% plus growth has been the case until the decade just passed during which the number of jobs basically ended the year where it began.

This subpar job growth is particularly noteworthy due to the fact that the U.S. population has increased by +10% in addition to a significant increase in global wealth during the same time frame.