July 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.

The unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent, and nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend down in July (-51,000), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Employment continued to fall in construction, manufacturing, and several service-providing industries, while health care and mining continued to add jobs. Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents, or 0.3 percent, over the month.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the number of unemployed persons (8.8 million) and the unemployment rate (5.7 percent) rose in July. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 1.6 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 1.0 percentage point. (See table A-1.)

Over the month, the unemployment rates for adult men (5.3 percent) and whites (5.1 percent) edged up while the rates for adult women (4.6 percent), blacks (9.7 percent), and Hispanics (7.4 percent) were little changed. The jobless rate for teenagers increased to 20.3 percent in July. The unemployment rate for Asians was 4.0 percent in July, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Among the unemployed, the number of reentrants to the labor force in July rose by 207,000 to 2.7 million. The number has increased by 623,000 over the past 12 months. The number of unemployed persons who had lost their last job was about unchanged over the month at 4.4 million, but has risen by 778,000 over the year. (See table A-8.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The civilian labor force, at 154.6 million, was little changed in July, and the labor force participation rate remained at 66.1 percent. Total employment, at 145.8 million, was about the same as in June. The employ- ment-population ratio, at 62.4 percent in July, was the same as in the prior month but was down from its most recent high of 63.4 percent in December 2006. (See table A-1.)

In July, the number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons rose by 308,000 to 5.7 million and has risen by 1.4 million over the past 12 months. 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.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.6 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally at- tached to the labor force in July, an increase of 197,000 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 461,000 discouraged workers in July, 94,000 more than a year earlier. Discouraged workers were not currently look- ing for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. The other 1.1 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in July 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 (-51,000) in July. Thus far in 2008, payroll employment has fallen by 463,000. Over the month, employment continued to decline in manufacturing, construction, employment ser- vices, wholesale trade, and the information industry. Health care and mining continued to add jobs over the month. (See table B-1.)

Manufacturing employment fell by 35,000 in July, bringing losses over the past 12 months to 383,000. Over the month, job losses were widespread with notable de- clines in transportation equipment (-8,000), wood products (-4,000), and textile mills (-3,000). Machinery added 6,000 jobs over the month.

Employment in construction was down by 22,000 in July. Construction has shed 557,000 jobs since its September 2006 employment peak, with nearly three-quarters of the decline occurring since October 2007. Nearly all of the July employment decrease came among specialty trade contractors (-20,000), with both the residen- tial and nonresidential components contributing to the decline.

Within professional and business services, employment services lost 34,000 jobs in July, with nearly all of the decline in temporary help services (-29,000). Since January 2008, employment in temporary help services has declined by 185,000. Com- puter systems design and related services added 7,000 jobs in July.

Wholesale trade employment decreased by 17,000 over the month, with declines in both the durable and nondurable components. Since its peak in November 2007, whole- sale trade has lost 57,000 jobs.

Employment in the information industry declined by 13,000 in July and by 44,000 over the past 12 months. Telecommunications lost 5,000 jobs in July.

Over the month, employment in retail trade continued to trend down. Since its peak in March 2007, retail trade has lost 211,000 jobs. Employment in motor vehi- cle and parts dealers fell by 11,000 in July, bringing declines in that industry to 35,000 since January 2008.

Employment in health care continued to increase with a gain of 33,000 in July. This industry has added 368,000 jobs over the past 12 months. In July, there were job gains of 21,000 in ambulatory health care services and 10,000 in hospitals.

In July, employment continued to grow in mining (10,000). Mining employment has expanded by 222,000, or 45 percent, since reaching a low in April 2003. Most of this increase has occurred in oil and gas extraction and in support activities for this industry.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

In July, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on pri- vate nonfarm payrolls fell by 0.1 hour to 33.6 hours, seasonally adjusted. Both the manufacturing workweek and factory overtime were unchanged over the month at 41.0 and 3.8 hours, respectively. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls fell by 0.4 percent in July to 106.6 (2002=100). The manufacturing index decreased by 0.1 percent to 91.6. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

In July, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on pri- vate nonfarm payrolls rose by 6 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $18.06, seasonally adjusted. This followed gains of 6 cents in May and 5 cents in June. Average weekly earnings, at $606.82, were about unchanged in July. 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.)