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June & July Unemployment Numbers Downgraded, Zero Jobs Added In Aug.

Written by Timothy Ruth on Sep 04, 2011 // Category: National

Employment for the month of August was unchanged from July, according to a report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. The national U.S. unemployment rate stayed at 9.1% with about 14 million people unemployed — mostly unchanged from July.

The report issued was the first time since 1945 that the government reported that the net jobs change was zero.

A release by the Labor Department agency also showed that the 9.1% unemployment rate has shown very little change since April with it mostly either inching up or down one-tenth of a point for the past four months.

Industries that were hiring during the month of August included healthcare jobs, which added 30,000 jobs over the span of the month. About 8,000 jobs were added mostly in the computer systems design industry and other related services. However, employment dipped about 48,000 in the information sector mostly because of the two-week strike by Verizon employees.

The unemployment rate for major worker groups didn’t change, and government employment slightly dipped, according to the BLS statistics. The Labor Department said that those that have been unemployed for at least 27 weeks has been unchanged at about 6 million.

As a result of the jobs report, the stock market dipped into the red on Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial losing over 253 points to 11,240.49, a dip of 2.2%. The NASDAQ dropped 65.71 points to 2,480.33, a drop of 2.6%.

In addition to the disappointing numbers for the month of August, the Labor Department noted that estimates for jobs created for June and July had both been downgraded; the former plummeted from 46,000 to 20,000 and the latter dipped from 117,000 to 85,000.

Economists say that 150,000 new jobs need to be created every month just to keep with the population growth and to keep the unemployment rate steady. Economists also explain that more than 275,000 jobs a month need to be added in order for the unemployment rate to dip below 8% before Election Day.



  • http://mindprod.com roedygreen

    One of the most ridiculous lies politicians get away with is that massive government spending cuts will create jobs. Governments spend money on salaries of employees, or contract out services. Those contractors in turn spend the money on salaries or services. In the end, it all gets spend for somebody’s wage or profit. If you have a massive spending cut, there is no money to pay all those people. They have to be laid off. Both spending cuts and jobs are highly desirable, but you have to choose. You if you cut spending, you automatically also cut jobs. If you want the government to directly create jobs, it means increased spending.

  • Oneal94

    doesn’t the government revise the jobs report downward every month?  Someone is either misleading us or they can’t count.

  • Kevincw01

    we just finished spending trillions in stimulus and we consistently lose jobs every month. The reality is that gov’t spending has very little effect on overall jobs because the majority of the people are employed privately.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Suter/100001406925137 David Suter

    This is from a lack of stimulus, not because of it, while the money from the stimulus was still moving unemployment numbers were better than expected, unsurprisingly (as in England, and pretty much everywhere else where austerity has been applied as a response to economic distress) when we started slashing spending instead of raising our taxes to a reasonable level, the job market started to contract. I don’t know why it is surprising, it’s a constant through modern economic history. Only the GOP seems blind to that.

  • No

    How many jobs did the 5 trillion dollars spent over the last year create? When do you plan to pay this stimulus money back? Maybe if I lose my job I can stimulate my personal finances by taking out a loan to pay my bills then use my credit card till it’s maxed out. Is this the type of stimulus people are referring to? Borrowed money? If the U.S. had money to spend that would be one thing but any and all stimulus is coming from borrowed money that has to be payed back with interest. But don’t worry it won’t have to be payed back by you. Your kids will handle it.

  • No

    past few years