The US unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent, and 51,000 jobs were lost in the US economy in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US 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. 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. Payroll employment has fallen by 463,000 in 2008.
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.
About 1.6 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached 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 looking 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.
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 services, wholesale trade, and the information industry. Health care and mining continued to add jobs over the month.
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 declines 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 residential 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. Computer 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, wholesale 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 vehicle 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.
