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Unemployment Rate Rises to 6.1%Posted on September 7, 2008 WASHINGTON, DC -- The unemployment rate rose from 5.7 to 6.1 percent in August, and non- farm payroll employment continued to trend down (-84,000), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported last wek. 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 employ- ment, 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. (See table A-1.) 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. (See table A-5.) The number of multiple jobholders increased by 298,000 in August to 8.1 million, accounting for 5.5 percent of total employed. Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data) About 1.6 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in August, an increase of 275,000 over the past 12 months. These individuals 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. Among the marginally attached, there were 381,000 discouraged workers in August, little changed from a year earlier. Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work specifically because they believe no jobs are available for them. The other 1.3 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. |
