Payroll employment unchanged (0) in August; unemployment rate holds at 9.1%

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- AUGUST 2011


Nonfarm payroll employment was unchanged (0) in August, and the unemployment
rate held at 9.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Employment in most major industries changed little over the month. Health
care continued to add jobs, and a decline in information employment reflected
a strike. Government employment continued to trend down, despite the return
of workers from a partial government shutdown in Minnesota.

Household Survey Data

The number of unemployed persons, at 14.0 million, was essentially unchanged
in August, and the unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent. The rate has shown
little change since April. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (8.9
percent), adult women (8.0 percent), teenagers (25.4 percent), whites
(8.0 percent), blacks (16.7 percent), and Hispanics (11.3 percent) showed
little or no change in August. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.1 percent,
not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was
about unchanged at 6.0 million in August and accounted for 42.9 percent of the
unemployed. (See table A-12.)

Read more: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

---

For last month's report see Payroll employment rises 117,000 in July; unemployment rate changes little (9.1%).

The large print giveth, and the fine print taketh away.

A Du'er pointed out a few months back that, if I'm going to post the link to the press release, I should include the link to all the tables that provide additional ways of examining the data. Specifically, I should post a link to "Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization." Table A-15 includes those who are not considered unemployed, on the grounds that they have become discouraged about the prospects of finding a job and have given up looking. Here are those links.

Monthly Employment Reports

Employment Situation

Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization

I'd include Table A-15 here as a .jpeg, but I can't break it out. I looked at the source code to see if that would be possible, but no dice.

From the February 10, 2011, "DOL Newsletter":

How does BLS determine the unemployment rate and the number of jobs that were added each month?

BLS uses two different surveys to get these numbers. The "household survey," or Current Population Survey (CPS), involves asking people, from about 60,000 households, a series of questions to assess each person in the household's activities including work and searching for work. Their responses give us the unemployment rate. The "establishment survey," or Current Employment Statistics (CES), surveys 140,000 employers about how many people they have on their payrolls. These results determine the number of jobs being added or lost.

[blueclown]

1. Double dip recession, here we come.

We need a big jobs plan. Now.

[Thav]

7. How about

A big infrastructure upgrade plan, coupled with an excellent tax cut for the working class, while raising taxes on the super rich?

[FBaggins]

10. Beginning to look as if the only valid doubt re: a double dip recession...

... Is wrapped up in whether or not you believe that we ever really exited the last one.

[RBInMaine]

13. Um, uh, and just what big jobs plan can pass the RePUKE House? ELECT DEMS 2012 !

[MannyGoldstein]

2. This is non-optimal.

I guess hoping that adults will take control of our country is out of the question.

This has got to stop.

[Javaman]

4. I have come to the conclusion that the only "adults" in polictics

are the ones that don't or never run for office.

[nyy1998]

3. Oh my, that's horrendous numbers nt

[Broderick]

5. I thought the stimulus jammed at us in a rush

Was supposed to save the day? All I see is dismal numbers and read reports of 500 million going to a company that is already closing up shop and bankrupt. Where the fuck did the money go? And I don't want to hear it would have been worse. That no longer flies.

[placton]

6. BUT WAIT!

Obama is giving a major jobs speech TONITE!! Full of helpful, radical proposals! And a free bottle of snake oil, to boot!

[Johnny2X2X]

8. Trickle Down

Hooray for trickle down economics!!!

[No Elephants]

12. Trickle down, tsunami up. (My description of our economy after the $1.7 trillion TARP)

[bhikkhu]

9. Well, I hope tomorrow's speech is a good one!

and I do hope it shakes things up enough to actually do something effective.

Usually there's gloom and doom at the jobs reports and economic numbers here, where in fact they have been consistently positive, and I pipe up with "its not that bad at all" somehow or other...I read through this one and don't really see an upside.

on edit - recall that the 2010 election was an angry-fest "all about jobs", and swept in a boatload of repugs. I know everyone wants to blame Obama and hold his feet to the fire, but what did the last election do but end economic stimulus, and give us a bunch of obstructionist blowhards in congress dead set on crippling up the presidency and the nation, for the sake of bigger wins in 2012?

Think about it...we can trudge even deeper into the swamp, and see all this continue to slide for however long you think the repugs can keep it up, or keep an open mind, listen to the president, give something a chance to work. Its supposed to be - most importantly - what the president can do about jobs without needing congress - as they have no ideas, no plans, and no intention of improving anything. What a screwed up situation!

[tcaudilllg]

11. After the rollback of EPA smog protections standards today, I recommend lowered expectations.

[girl gone mad]

14. Table A-15: