Job Market Could Be Better Than It Appears

Washington, DC, Nov. 7, 2011 -- Just how bad is the employment market? Perhaps a lot better than headlines would indicate.

Marketwatch reports that the employment survey consists of two parts, one for businesses and one for households.

And the two reports are painting completely different pictures.

Employers say their hiring is week and over the last three months non-farm payrolls have risen 342,000.

However, the much smaller household survey indicates that payrolls have jumped by about 1 million, the best employment gains in nearly five years.

This could be partly due to the fact that the household survey picks up on new company formation much faster than the business survey.

Financial markets generally pay more attention to the business survey, Marketwatch reports.