Posted on 09/07/2012 5:33:38 AM PDT by xzins
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- AUGUST 2012
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 96,000 in August, and the unemployment rate edged down to 8.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in food services and drinking places, in professional and technical services, and in health care.
Household Survey Data
The unemployment rate edged down in August to 8.1 percent. Since the beginning of this year, the rate has held in a narrow range of 8.1 to 8.3 percent. The number of unemployed persons, at 12.5 million, was little changed in August. (See table A-1.)
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.6 percent), adult women (7.3 percent), teenagers (24.6 percent), whites (7.2 percent), blacks (14.1 percent), and Hispanics (10.2 percent) showed little or no change in August. The jobless rate for Asians was 5.9 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
In August, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 5.0 million. These individuals accounted for 40.0 percent of the unemployed. (See table A-12.)
Both the civilian labor force (154.6 million) and the labor force participation rate (63.5 percent) declined in August. The employment-population ratio, at 58.3 percent, was little changed. (See table A-1.)
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed at 8.0 million in August. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)
In August, 2.6 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, essentially unchanged from a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)
Among the marginally attached, there were 844,000 discouraged workers in August, a decline of 133,000 from a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.7 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in August had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-16.)
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 96,000 in August. Since the beginning of this year, employment growth has averaged 139,000 per month, compared with an average monthly gain of 153,000 in 2011. In August, employment rose in food services and drinking places, in professional and technical services, and in health care. (See table B-1.)
Employment in food services and drinking places increased by 28,000 in August and by 298,000 over the past 12 months.
Employment in professional and technical services rose in August (+27,000). Job gains occurred in computer systems design and related services (+11,000) and management and technical consulting services (+9,000).
Health care employment rose by 17,000 in August. Ambulatory health care services and hospitals added 14,000 and 6,000 jobs, respectively. From June through August, job growth in health care averaged 15,000 per month, compared with an average monthly gain of 28,000 in the prior 12 months.
Utilities employment increased in August (+9,000). The increase reflects the return of utility workers who were off payrolls in July due to a labor-management dispute.
Within financial activities, finance and insurance added 11,000 jobs in August. Employment in wholesale trade continued to trend up. Employment in temporary help services changed little over the month and has shown little movement, on net, since February.
Manufacturing employment edged down in August (-15,000). A decline in motor vehicles and parts (-8,000) partially offset a gain in July. Auto manufacturers laid off fewer workers for factory retooling than usual in July, and fewer workers than usual were recalled in August.
Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, construction, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, and government, showed little change over the month.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.4 hours in August. The manufacturing workweek declined by 0.2 hour to 40.5 hours, and factory overtime was unchanged at 3.2 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.7 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)
In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 1 cent to $23.52. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings rose by 1.7 percent. In August, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees edged down by 1 cent to $19.75. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for June was revised from +64,000 to +45,000, and the change for July was revised from +163,000 to +141,000.
______________ The Employment Situation for September is scheduled to be released on Friday, October 5, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).
It would be entertaining to hear their justification for reducing the size of the labor force.
Yeah, right, those people just decided they don’t need/want to work anymore.
Flipping the dials at 8:30 to see reporting of jobs number,here`s what I found. To CNN credit they surprisingly said it was bad news, they even more surprisingly mentioned the downward revisions.
CNBC was missing Steve Santeli (sp)unfortunately, probably Obama asked to have him on vacation for last job reports.
Mark Zandy tried to spin it as positive news, guys totally in tank for Dems and represents Moody`s what a joke.
Joe Scarborough did not disappoint though, he said the 8.1 was very good for President, Joe is a scum bag any way you slice it.
He claimed prior to Paul Ryan being chosen, that it would energize him as a “Republican” , more than he has known in over 20 years, if Ryan was chosen. Well he said that believing Ryan would not be chosen, now you would not even think he was energized.
he said recently that Obama was a better communicator than Reagan.
Fox was honest about report
From the report: Both the civilian labor force (154.6 million) and the labor force participation rate (63.5 percent) declined in August.
Fewer people are participating in the labor force, and that includes a lower rate of participation.
So, if I have a labor force of 10 and only 6 are participating, I have a 60% participation rate.
But, if I have a labor force of 9 and only 5 are participating, I have only a 55% participation rate.
I could have shrunk my labor force to 9 and still have 6 participating for a 66% participation rate, BUT in this report, the FORCE IS SMALLER and FEWER PEOPLE are participating.
That is entirely damning. It says that the claim of 96000 jobs created is all smoke and mirrors.
There are few jobs in August than there were in July. That's the bottom line.
The only thing you will hear from the Administration and the MSM will be that the unemployment rate fell from 8.3% to 8.1%. Bet on it!
You don’t think people FEEL the bad economy and are experiencing it? That little two tenths of a point means nothing when looking at the rest of the report. THIS is something they can’t hide. The pacs and Romney should be making sure people understand how shitting this report is...if not then they deserve to lose. And we all lose because middle class people are hurting. Just buying gas a groceries can put you in a hole now a day with prices.
Pushed into Govt "dolitude" by the willful negligence of Mordor.
Unemployment is expiring for lots of Americans. Even though they are still without work they drop off the data and are no longer counted.
Who knows, if enough people get dropped off the unemploment we could see 6% “unemployment” by November 1st.
“Curious why the unemployment rate dropped from 8.3% to 8.1%, even as just 96,000 jobs were added? The labor participation rate declined from 63.7% to 63.5%, the lowest since 1982. It means that somehow in August the labor force declined by 368,000 people, which is a paradox since according to the household survey 119,000 jobs were lost in August. The combination of these two factor magically resulted in a drop in the unemployment rate.”
Surprised the CNN web article actually has in the lead paragraph that the reason it dropped was because people quit looking for work.
But then again, the web headline still trumpets a “slight decline” in the rate.
Wow.
And that’s not counting those who can only find part-time work, but want full-time.
The truth is that the size of the labor force is what they say it is and dropping workers from the numbers is a decision made by them.
There should be an outside audit firm watching these shenanigans.
They should be getting hammered for fewer people working, fewer jobs overall, in this country.
Good analysis.. thanks. The 96K is indeed smoke and mirrors... just as 0bama’s entire tenure has been.
Yep... but the headline belies their attempt to cover for 0bama: "Jobless rate down slightly."
8.1% still rounds up to ten.
That means that just about every family has an unemployed person, that every church has multiple unemployed members, that every community has desperate people looking for some means of supporting their families with dignity.
Then there’s Omama’s “Tax Hikes for the Rich”
Translated, that equals: “Obama Tax Hikes on YOUR Job”
The job Obama taxes might be your own.
If I need a hundred grand from my business to pay my bills, and Obama costs me 30,000 more, then I’m increasing my income from my business to 130 grand, so any extraneous employee or extraneous hours are going away.
The job Obama taxes out of existence may be YOUR own.
They are trying to set up Obama for an improvement in the next report - which would be the last one before the election.
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