A total of 84,000 jobs in the U.S. were lost in August, significantly more than
expected, pushing the unemployment rate to a five-year high of more than 6 percent.
The Labor Department announced today that employers not only cut jobs for the
eight month in a row, but cut more jobs than analysts
were expecting -- a total of 84,000 versus the 75,000 predicted. Furthermore,
the Labor Department also announced worse revisions for June and July
job losses. July's job losses were revised up to 60,000 while June's
losses jumped to 100,000.
The trend of job cuts in August continued as 61,000 manufacturing jobs were lost,
8,000 more construction jobs were cut, 53,000 jobs were eliminated in professional
and business services, 20,000 retailing jobs were cut, and 4,000 jobs lost in
leisure and hospitality industries.
The net job loss -- job losses at all private employers not including government
—- rose to 101,000 in August.
The only real bright spots in the report were in government services and education and healthcare.
Government payrolls increased by 17,000 while education and health services businesses
added another 55,000 employees.
The 6.1 percent unemployment rate -- also a much higher increase than expected --
is at the highest point since December 2003.
It's amazing that the economy -- and especially job creation -- is not getting more
attention on the political front, especially in such a major election year. Workers
are continuing to take the punches of an economy in recession. And even those lucky
enough to have jobs still face worries about the economic health of their employers
and limited abilities to change jobs or careers.
And in related news, more employers have announced plans for more "payroll reductions"
over the coming weeks, so the timetable for a stronger job market continues to get
pushed back.
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