Total nonfarm payroll employment changed little in August(+22k); Unemployment rate changed little at 4.3 percent
Total nonfarm payroll employment changed little in August (+22,000) and has shown little change since April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. The unemployment rate, at 4.3 percent, also changed little in August. A job gain in health care was partially offset by losses in federal government and in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction.
Both the unemployment rate, at 4.3 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.4 million, changed little in August. These measures also changed little over the year.
The number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.7 million, changed little in August. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.
The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job, at 6.4 million, changed little in August but was up by 722,000 over the year. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job.
Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor force changed little at 1.8 million in August. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, also changed little over the month at 514,000.
INDUSTRY FOCUS(Establishment Survey Data)
- Total nonfarm payroll employment changed little in August (+22,000) and has shown little change since April. Over the month, a job gain in health care was partially offset by losses in federal government and in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction.
- In August, health care added 31,000 jobs, below the average monthly gain of 42,000 over the prior 12 months. Employment continued to trend up over the month in ambulatory health care services (+13,000), nursing and residential care facilities (+9,000), and hospitals (+9,000).
- Employment in social assistance continued to trend up in August (+16,000), reflecting continued job growth in individual and family services (+16,000).
- Federal government employment continued to decline in August (-15,000) and is down by 97,000 since reaching a peak in January. (Employees on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance pay are counted as employed in the establishment survey.)
- In August, employment in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction declined by 6,000, after changing little over the prior 12 months.
- Wholesale trade employment continued to trend down in August (-12,000) and has fallen by 32,000 since May.
- Manufacturing employment changed little in August (-12,000) but is down by 78,000 over the year. Employment in transportation equipment manufacturing declined by 15,000 over the month, in part due to strike activity.
- Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including construction, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and other services.