August 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 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 today. 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. (See table A-1.)

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. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

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. (See table A-8.)

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. (See table A-9.)

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. (See table A-6.)

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. (See table A-13.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend down (-84,000) in August. Thus far in 2008, payroll employment has declined by 605,000, an average loss of 76,000 per month. Employment continued to decline in manufacturing and employ- ment services, while health care and mining added jobs. (See table B-1.)

Manufacturing employment fell by 61,000 in August. The largest decline occurred in motor vehicles and parts (-39,000), which has lost 128,000 jobs over the past 12 months. In August, employment also fell in 2 industries related to home building--wood products (-7,000) and furniture and related products (-7,000). Computer and electronic products manufacturing added 5,000 jobs over the month.

Within professional and business services, employment services lost 53,000 jobs in August; more than two-thirds of the decrease (-37,000) occurred in temporary help services. Since its most recent peak in August 2006, employ- ment services has lost 419,000 jobs.

Employment in both wholesale and retail trade continued to trend down over the month. Within retail trade, motor vehicle and parts dealers shed 14,000 jobs. Since reaching a recent peak in April 2007, employment in motor vehicle and parts dealers has fallen by 60,000.

Health care employment continued to grow in August (27,000), with more than half of the gain in hospitals. Over the past 12 months, health care has added 367,000 jobs.

Employment in mining increased by 12,000 in August, with gains occurring in all the component industries. Over the past 12 months, job growth has been especially strong in support activities for mining (39,000) and in oil and gas extraction (17,000).

Construction job losses in July and August averaged 14,000, compared with an average monthly loss of 45,000 during the first half of 2008. In August, residential specialty trade contractors lost 14,000 jobs; since a peak in February 2006, employment in the industry has declined by 388,000.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

In August, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls remained at 33.7 hours, seasonally adjusted. Both the manufacturing workweek, at 40.9 hours, and factory overtime, at 3.7 hours, fell by 0.1 hour over the month. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls declined by 0.1 percent in August to 106.8 (2002=100). The manufacturing index fell by 0.9 percent to 90.5. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

In August, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 7 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $18.14, season- ally adjusted. This followed gains of 5 cents in June and 7 cents in July. Average weekly earnings rose by 0.4 percent in August to $611.32. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings increased by 3.6 percent and average weekly earnings rose by 3.3 percent. (See tables B-3 and B-4.)