The August job numbers released today by the BLS
will come as a disappointment, especially to Democrats who were hoping
for a strong headline number during their convention week. The U.S.
economy created just 96,000 new payroll jobs last month. An increase of
103,000 private-sector jobs was partly offset by a loss of 7,000
government jobs. Private-sector goods-producing jobs actually fell by
16,000. To make matters worse, the June jobs number was revised downward
by 19,000 to a very weak 45,000, and the July jobs gain was revised
downward by 22,000 to a more modest 141,000.
The
unemployment rate decreased from 8.3 percent to 8.1 percent, but there
was not as much good news in that number as it might seem. For one
thing, the unemployment rate had already hit 8.1 percent once before, in
April, so the August number did not break new ground. Also, much of the
drop in the unemployment rate was due to a decrease in the size of the
labor force. The number of employed persons, according to the household
survey on which the unemployment rate is based, actually fell by 119,000
in August. The unemployment rate is based on a survey of household that
is entirely separate from the establishment survey on which the payroll
jobs report is based. The two surveys can produce numbers on job loss
or gain that differ substantially, partly for methodological reasons and
partly because the household survey, unlike the payroll survey,
includes farm workers and self-employed persons. >>>Read more
Follow this link to view or download a classroom-ready slideshow with charts of all the latest employment data
No comments:
Post a Comment