Unemployment rate up in July

02 Aug '08

2 min read

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. 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.

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.

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.

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 employment-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.

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.

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U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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