Job Growth From Paper Shuffling, Garbage Collection

This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced its November result of number fudging by "Net Birth/Death Model", aka "The Employment Situation in November 2009".

Net job loss for November was a surprising 11,000. So where did the gains happen?

Private Sector = - 18,000
Natural Resources & Mining = - 1,000
Construction = - 27,000
Manufacturing = - 41,000
Services = + 58,000
Government = + 7,000

So it is Services and Government. What's in the Services?

Wholesale Trade = - 11,700
Retail Trade = - 14,500
Transportation & Warehousing = - 5,300
Utilities = - 2,400
Information & Media = - 17,000
Financial Svcs & Real Estate = - 10,000
Professional & Business Svcs = + 86,000
Education = + 11,100
Health Svcs = + 28,100
Leisure = - 11,000

What's in the "Professional Svcs & Business Svcs"? BLS says:

Legal Services: NAICS 5411
Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services: NAICS 5412
Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services: NAICS 5413
Specialized Design Services: NAICS 5414
Computer Systems Design and Related Services: NAICS 5415
Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services: NAICS 5416
Scientific Research and Development Services: NAICS 5417
Advertising and Related Services: NAICS 5418
Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services: NAICS 5419

Management of Companies and Enterprises: NAICS 55

Office Administrative Services: NAICS 5611
Facilities Support Services: NAICS 5612
Employment Services: NAICS 5613
Business Support Services: NAICS 5614
Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services: NAICS 5615
Investigation and Security Services: NAICS 5616
Services to Buildings and Dwellings: NAICS 5617
Other Support Services: NAICS 5619

Waste Collection: NAICS 5621
Waste Treatment and Disposal: NAICS 5622
Remediation and Other Waste Management Services: NAICS 5629

I can't imagine the number of lawyers, accountants, management consultants suddenly jumped in November. My wild guess is that the employment increase was in the last two categories - paper shuffling and garbage collection. Hardly the engines for robust growth.

After the initial pop, the market cratered after 11:30 AM EST. Dow is currently down 24 points at 10,342. Earlier, it was at 10,516, up nearly 150 points, highest for the year. Profit taking and locking in the year's gain is the explanation offered by MarketWatch.

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