August 2008 Unemployment Rate Jumps

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: AUGUST 2008

The unemployment rate rose from 5.7 to 6.1 (consensus was 5.8%) percent in August, and non-farm payroll employment continued to trend down (-84,000 consensus was -75,000), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. In August, employment fell in manufacturing and employment services, while mining and health care continued to add jobs. Average hourly earnings rose by 7 cents, or 0.4 percent, over the month. Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
The number of unemployed persons rose by 592,000 to 9.4 million in August, and the unemployment rate increased by 0.4 percentage point to 6.1 percent. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 2.2 million and the unemployment rate has risen by 1.4 percentage points, with most of the increase occurring over the past 4 months. In August, the unemployment rates for adult men (5.6 percent), adult women (5.3 percent), whites (5.4 percent), blacks (10.6 percent), and Hispanics (8.0 percent) rose, while the jobless rate for teenagers was little changed at 18.9 percent. The unemployment rate for Asians was 4.4 percent in August, not seasonally adjusted. Among the unemployed, the number of persons who lost their last job rose by 417,000 to 4.8 million in August, with increases occurring among those on tem-porary layoff and those who do not expect to be recalled to work. Over the last 4 months, the number of unemployed job losers has increased by 810,000. In August, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) rose by 163,000 to 1.8 million, an increase of 589,000 over the past 12 months.
The newly unemployed--those who were jobless fewer than 5 weeks--increased by 400,000 over the month.
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
The civilian labor force, at 154.9 million, was about unchanged in August, and the labor force participation rate remained at 66.1 percent. Total employment, at 145.5 million, was little changed from July. The employment-population ratio fell over the month to 62.1 percent in August, down 1.3 percentage points from its most recent high of 63.4 percent in December 2006. In August, the number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons was essentially unchanged at 5.7 million. This category includes persons who indicated that they would like to work full time but were working part time because their hours had been cut back or they were unable to find full-time jobs. The number of multiple jobholders increased by 298,000 in August to 8.1 million, accounting for 5.5 percent of total employed.