March 3 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. economy will benefit from “meaningful job growth in the private sector” over the next few months, said Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York.
“We’re pretty close to making a turn here,” Kasman said today in an interview on Bloomberg Radio. “Companies have been increasing the workweek. There is more income being generated.”
Still, long term unemployment “is going to be a problem for years to come” following the loss of 8.4 million jobs since the recession started in December 2007, said Kasman, who estimates the unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent in February from 9.7 percent in January.
U.S. companies in February cut the fewest jobs in two years, according to a report today from ADP Employer Services. The 20,000 decline was in line with forecasts and followed a revised 60,000 drop the prior month, the report showed.
Over the previous six months, ADP’s initial figures have overstated the Labor Department’s first estimate of private payroll losses by as little as 10,000 in January to as much as 151,000 in November.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News anticipate the government’s report March 5 will show U.S. payrolls declined by 50,000, in part because snowstorms in parts the country caused some businesses to close.
The Labor Department’s report is forecast to show the unemployment rate climbed to 9.8 percent in February, the first increase since October, according to the Bloomberg survey median.
