August 2003 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.

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 93,000 in August, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 6.1 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Job losses continued in manufacturing, information, and other sectors, while health care and construction added jobs.

The widespread electrical power failure in the Northeast and Midwest occurred late in the afternoon of Thursday, August 14, forcing many businesses to shut down for a period of time during the survey reference periods. Because of the way employment is defined in the two surveys, however, it is likely that the blackout had little effect on the August employment counts.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the number of unemployed persons (8.9 million) and the unemployment rate (6.1 percent) were essentially unchanged over the month. Unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (5.8 percent), adult women (5.2 percent), teenagers (16.6 percent), whites (5.4 percent), blacks (10.9 per- cent), and Hispanics or Latinos (7.8 percent)--showed little or no change in August. The unemployment rate for Asians was 5.9 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

In August, 1.9 million persons had been unemployed for 27 weeks or more. They represented 21.8 percent of all unemployed persons, about the same as in July. (See table A-9.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The number of employed persons (137.6 million) was little changed over the month. Both the employment-population ratio (62.1 percent) and the labor force participation rate (66.2 percent) were unchanged. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

In August, nearly 1.7 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force, 209,000 higher than a year earlier. These individuals wanted and were available to work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed, however, because they did not actively search for work in the 4 weeks pre- ceding the survey. Of the 1.7 million, 503,000 were discouraged workers-- persons who were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. The number of discouraged workers has risen by 125,000 over the year. The other 1.2 million marginally attached had not searched for work for reasons such as school or family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined (-93,000) in August to 129.8 million. Over the month, job losses continued in the manufacturing and information sectors. Health care and construction added jobs. (See table B-1.)

The number of factory jobs decreased by 44,000 in August. Since July 2000, manufacturing employment has declined continuously, shedding nearly 16 percent of its jobs. In August, wood products, machinery, apparel, and electrical equipment and appliances each lost 5,000 jobs. Employment declined by 12,000 in the textile industries.

Employment in the information sector fell by 16,000 over the month. Since its recent peak in March 2001, the number of jobs in this sector has declined by 459,000, or about 12 percent. Telecommunications employment has declined continuously since March 2001 and fell by 7,000 over the month.

Professional and business services employment edged down in August. Within this sector, management of companies and enterprises lost 10,000 jobs. Computer systems design lost 8,000 workers over the month. Since peaking in March 2001, employment in this industry has declined by 232,000. Temporary help employment continued to trend up, although the increases in July and August were notably smaller than the gains in May and June.

Employment continued to decline in wholesale trade. Since its most recent peak in March 2000, wholesale trade employment has decreased by 423,000. Retail trade employment was little changed in August. Employ- ment in transportation and warehousing also showed little change over the month.

Government employment peaked in February and has decreased by 131,000 since then.

A gain of 25,000 jobs in health care and social assistance in August was about in line with its average monthly employment increase over the prior 12 months. Ambulatory services (such as doctors' offices and out- patient clinics) and hospitals each added 11,000 jobs in August.

Construction employment edged up over the month. Since February, the industry has added an average of 20,000 jobs per month. In August, gains occurred in heavy construction and in specialty trades, both of which have increased employment recently.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged in August at 33.6 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek also was unchanged at 40.1 hours. Manufacturing overtime ticked up by 0.1 hour to 4.1 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged down in August to 98.2 (2002=100). The man- ufacturing index decreased by 0.2 percent over the month to 93.8. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 2 cents in August to $15.45, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings were up by 0.1 percent over the month to $519.12. Over the year, average hourly earnings grew by 2.9 percent and average weekly earnings increased by 2.0 percent. (See table B-3.)