June 2008 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.

Nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend down in June (-62,000), while the unemployment rate held at 5.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Employment continued to fall in construction, manufacturing, and employment services, while health care and mining added jobs. Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents, or 0.3 percent, over the month.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons was essentially unchanged in June, at 8.5 million, and the unemployment rate held at 5.5 percent. A year earlier, the number of unemployed persons was 7.0 million, and the jobless rate was 4.6 percent. (See table A-1.)

The unemployment rate for Hispanics (7.7 percent) increased over the month, while the rate for adult men (5.1 percent) continued to trend up. Jobless rates for adult women (4.7 percent), teenagers (18.1 percent), whites (4.9 per- cent), and blacks (9.2 percent) showed little or no change in June. The unem- ployment rate for Asians was 4.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Among the unemployed, the number of persons who had lost their last job was essentially unchanged at 4.4 million in June, but has risen by 952,000 over the past 12 months. The numbers of unemployed reentrants and new entrants to the labor force were little changed in June; both groups had increased sharply in May. (See table A-8.)

Following a large increase in May, the number of newly unemployed--those job- less fewer than 5 weeks--decreased by 532,000 in June. The number of persons un- employed 5 to 14 weeks rose by 530,000 over the month. The number of long-term unemployed (those persons jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged in June at 1.6 million; this group accounted for 18.4 percent of the unemployed. (See table A-9.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The civilian labor force (154.4 million) and the labor force participation rate (66.1 percent) were little changed in June; in the prior month the civil- ian labor force had increased sharply. Both total employment (145.9 million) and the employment-population ratio (62.4 percent) were essentially unchanged in June. The employment-population ratio was 0.6 percentage point lower than a year earlier. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons, at 5.4 million in June, was about unchanged over the month, but was up by 1.1 million over the past 12 months. These individuals indicated that they were working part time be- cause their hours had been cut back or they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-5.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

In June, about 1.6 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force, little different from a year earlier. These indi- viduals 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 at- tached, there were 420,000 discouraged workers in June, little changed from a year earlier. Discouraged workers were not currently looking for work specifically be- cause they believed no jobs were available for them. The other 1.1 million per- sons marginally attached to the labor force in June had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend down in June (-62,000). Since peaking in December 2007, payroll employment has fallen by 438,000. In June, job losses continued in construction, manufacturing, and employment ser- vices. Health care and mining added jobs over the month. (See table B-1.)

Employment in construction fell by 43,000 in June, as job losses continued across the industry. Since its peak in September 2006, construction employment has fallen by 528,000.

In June, manufacturing employment fell by 33,000. Job losses were wide- spread throughout the industry, with notable declines in fabricated metal pro- ducts (-9,000), printing and related support activities (-6,000), and wood pro- ducts (-6,000). Employment in motor vehicles and parts edged up by 6,000 over the month, largely reflecting the return of workers from strikes and related shut- downs. Over the past 12 months, manufacturing has lost 353,000 jobs.

Within professional and business services, employment services lost 59,000 jobs in June; about half of the decrease (-30,000) occurred in temporary help services. So far this year, monthly job losses in temporary help services have averaged 26,000 compared with average declines of 7,000 per month in 2007.

Retail trade employment changed little in June. A job gain in general merchan- dise stores (9,000) was offset by small declines elsewhere in the sector. Since its most recent peak in March 2007, retail trade has shed 194,000 jobs.

Employment in mining rose by 8,000 in June. Support activities for mining and oil and gas extraction accounted for most of the increase. Mining employment has ex- panded by 208,000, or 42 percent, since its most recent low in April 2003.

Health care employment continued to grow in June (15,000), although the increase was half the size of the average monthly gain during the prior 12 months. In June, employment rose in ambulatory health care services (13,000). Since June 2007, health care has added 348,000 jobs. In June, food services employment continued to trend upward (16,000), although job gains in this industry have slowed recently. The industry added an average of 13,000 jobs per month from November 2007 through June 2008; this compares with an average in- crease of 27,000 jobs per month for the first 10 months of 2007.

Government employment continued to trend up in June and has grown by 257,000 over the past 12 months. Local government has accounted for about two-thirds of the growth since June 2007.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

In June, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls remained at 33.7 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing work- week decreased by 0.1 hour to 40.8 hours, and factory overtime was unchanged at 3.9 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls fell by 0.1 percent in June to 107.0 (2002=100). The manufacturing index declined by 0.5 percent to 91.4 percent. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

In June, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on pri- vate nonfarm payrolls rose by 6 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $18.01, seasonally adjusted. This followed gains of 6 cents in May and 2 cents in April. Average weekly earnings rose by 0.3 percent in June to $606.94. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings increased by 3.4 percent and average weekly earnings rose by 2.8 percent. (See tables B-3 and B-4.)

HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

Unemployment Employed Unemployed rates

Occupation

1 Persons with no previous work experience and persons whose last job was in the Armed Forces are included in the unemployed total. c = corrected. NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA

Total Men Women

Category

NOT IN THE LABOR FORCE

MULTIPLE JOBHOLDERS

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 school or family responsibilities, ill health, 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. c = corrected. NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.