August 1996 Employment Situation

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain source. Statistical tables, standard technical appendices, administrative material and attendance rosters are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's historical context and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete document.

Unemployment declined in August, and nonfarm payroll employment continued to increase, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The nation's jobless rate fell from 5.4 to 5.1 percent. The number of jobs on nonfarm payrolls rose by 250,000 in August; private sector employment increased by 173,000. Average hourly earnings were up by 6 cents over the month.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the number of unemployed persons and the unemployment rate fell in August. The number of persons who were unemployed, at 6.8 million, was 467,000 below July's level. The unemployment rate, at 5.1 percent, was 0.3 percentage point lower than in July. The August decline in unemployment occurred primarily among workers 20 to 24 years old, whose jobless rate fell from 9.7 to 8.3 percent, and among those 55 years and over, whose rate declined from 3.8 to 3.1 percent. (See tables A-1 and A-8.)

Among the unemployed, both the number of persons who had been looking for work for less than 5 weeks and the number who had been looking from 5 to 14 weeks fell in August. Unemployment among persons who had lost their job also declined substantially over the month. (See tables A-5 and A-6.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment was about unchanged in August at 127.1 million. At 63.3 percent, the proportion of the population 16 years and over with jobs (the employment-population ratio) also was little different from the July figure. Over the past year, total employment has increased by 2.2 million and the employment-population ratio has risen by half a percentage point. The civilian labor force edged down in August to 133.9 million, after expanding by a half million in July. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons who held more than one job in August was 7.5 million (not seasonally adjusted). These multiple jobholders comprised 5.9 percent of the total employed. (See table A-9.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.4 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in August--that is, they wanted and were available for work but had stopped looking for jobs sometime in the prior 12 months. Of this total, discouraged workers--those who were no longer looking specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them- -numbered 415,000. (See table A-9.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 250,000 in August to 120.0 million, seasonally adjusted, about in line with the average monthly gain so far this year. Employment in services rose by 81,000 in August, following a gain of 74,000 in July. During the first half of 1996, services added an average of 120,000 jobs per month. The recent slowdown was in part related to weakness in health services. Job growth in health services has averaged just 8,000 per month since May, following an average monthly gain of 29,000 jobs during the first 5 months of the year. Services employment in August also was held down by a decline of 16,000 jobs in private educational services. This decline followed large gains in June and July. In August, strong job growth continued in business services, particularly help supply and computer services, and in engineering and management services. (See table B-1.)

Government employment rose by 77,000 in August. Nearly two-thirds of the gain took place in local education, which has had three consecutive large employment increases, after seasonal adjustment. The magnitude of the seasonal swings in local education employment, the yearly variation in the timing of school openings and closings, and the recent movement toward more year-round education, all make precise seasonal adjustment of the job count for local education difficult during the summer and autumn. Federal government employment continued to decline in August; since its most recent peak in May 1992, job losses have totaled 236,000.

Both finance and real estate continued to add jobs in August. Transportation and public utilities employment rose by 15,000 over the month, although there were unusual movements in some of the transportation components. Trucking lost 7,000 jobs, while air transportation had a large increase of 9,000. Communications also continued its strong growth pattern, adding 7,000 jobs.

Retail trade gained just 21,000 jobs in August, after having added an average of 80,000 jobs per month over the April-July period. Employment growth in department and food stores was particularly strong, and most other retail industries added workers as well. These increases, however, were partly offset by a decline of 28,000 in eating and drinking places, which followed a gain of 70,000 over the prior 2 months. Wholesale trade added only 7,000 jobs over the month, continuing the trend toward slower growth that began in March.

Manufacturing employment increased by 25,000 in August, offsetting a decline of similar magnitude in July. The largest over-the-month increase was in motor vehicle and equipment manufacturing, where workers returned from unusually widespread July vacation shutdowns. Continued gains in fabricated metals and aircraft were nearly offset by losses in electronic equipment. Within nondurables, job growth continued in rubber and miscellaneous plastics. Apparel experienced a large decline in August, and has lost nearly 10 percent of its jobs over the past year. Elsewhere in the goods-producing sector, employment in construction was little changed in August, after rising by 203,000 during the first 7 months of the year.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls inched up 0.1 hour in August to 34.4 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek also edged up 0.1 hour to 41.7 hours, and factory overtime was unchanged at 4.4 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of private production or nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls rose 0.6 percent, on a seasonally adjusted basis, to 136.9 (1982=100) in August. The manufacturing index edged up 0.4 percent to 106.2. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of private production or nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls rose 6 cents in August to $11.87, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings increased by 0.8 percent to $408.33. Over the past year, both average hourly earnings and average weekly earnings have risen by 3.6 percent. (See table B-3.)

HOUSEHOLD DATA Table A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age

1/ The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns.

1/ The population figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation; therefore, identical numbers appear in the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted columns. NOTE: Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups.

(In thousands)

1/ Unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force. 2/ Seasonally adjusted unemployment data for service occupations are not available because the seasonal component, which is small relative to the trend-cycle and irregular components, cannot be separated with sufficient precision.

1/ Not available.

(Percent)

1/ Not available. NOTE: This range of alternative measures of labor underutilization replaces the U1-U7 range published in table A-7 of this release prior to 1994. Marginally attached workers are persons who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past. Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, have given a job-market related reason for not currently looking for a job. Persons employed part time for economic reasons are those who want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule. For further information, see "BLS introduces new range of alternative unemployment measures," in the October 1995 issue of the Monthly Labor Review.

1/ Unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force.

(In thousands)

1/ Data refer to persons who have searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available to take a job during the reference week. 2/ Includes thinks no work available, could not find work, lacks schooling or training, employer thinks too young or old, and other types of discrimination. 3/ Includes those who did not actively look for work in the prior 4 weeks for such reasons as child-care and transportation problems, as well as a small number for which reason for nonparticipation was not determined. 4/ Includes persons who work part time on their primary job and full time on their secondary job(s), not shown separately.

ESTABLISHMENT DATA ESTABLISHMENT DATA