U.S. and California unemployment figures for July 2011
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the total nonfarm payroll employment in the U.S. increased by 117,000 in July, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.1% (down slightly from 9.2% in June). California, on the other hand, experienced an increase in nonfarm payroll jobs of only 4,500, but the unemployment rate increased to 12.0% in July (up from 11.8% in June and 11.7% in May)! California became the state with the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, second only to Nevada!
What’s up with THAT, California?
For the U.S. as a whole, job increases occurred in health care, retail trade, manufacturing, and mining. Government employment continued to trend downward. The Bureau of Labor Statistics had THIS to say:
“The number of unemployed persons (13.9 million) and the unemployment rate (9.1 percent) changed little in July. Since April, the unemployment rate has shown little definitive movement. The labor force, at 153.2 million, was little changed in July.”
“Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men(9.0 percent), adult women (7.9 percent), teenagers (25.0 percent), whites (8.1 percent), blacks (15.9 percent), and Hispanics (11.3 percent) showed little or no change in July. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.7 percent, not seasonally adjusted.”
“The number of persons unemployed for less than 5 weeks declined by 387,000 in July, mostly offsetting an increase in the prior month. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over), at 6.2 million, changed little over the month and accounted for 44.4 percent of the unemployed.”
The number of people who were employed part time for economic reasons (the so-called “involuntary part-time workers”) was roughly unchanged in July at 8.4 million. Also in July, there were 2.8 million persons who were “marginally attached” to the U.S. workforce, about the same as a year ago. This “marginally attached” group included 1.1 million discouraged workers, again about the same as a year earlier, who believe that no jobs are available for them, and 1.7 million persons who had not searched for work in the 4 weeks before the survey because of school attendence, family responsibilities, or other reasons.
As for employment in various job categories, the U.S. report stated that:
“Health care employment grew by 31,000 in July. Ambulatory health care services and hospitals each added 14,000 jobs over the month. Over the past 12 months, health care employment has grown by 299,000.
Retail trade added 26,000 jobs in July. Employment in health and personal care stores rose by 9,000 over the month with small increases distributed among several other retail industries. Employment in retail trade has increased by 228,000 since a recent low in December 2009.
Manufacturing employment increased in July (+24,000); nearly all of the increase was in durable goods manufacturing. Within durable goods, the motor vehicles and parts industry had fewer seasonal layoffs than typical for July, contributing to a seasonally adjusted employment increase of 12,000.
Manufacturing has added 289,000 jobs since its most recent trough in December 2009, and durable goods manufacturing added 327,000 jobs during this period.
In July, employment in mining rose by 9,000; virtually all of the gain (+8,000) occurred in support activities for mining. Employment in mining has increased by 140,000 since a recent low in October 2009.
Employment in professional and technical services continued to trend up in July (+18,000). This industry has added 246,000 jobs since a recent low in March 2010. Employment in temporary help services changed little over the month and has shown little movement on net so far this year.
Elsewhere in the private sector, employment in construction, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, and leisure and hospitality changed little over the month.
Government employment continued to trend down over the month (-37,000). Employment in state government decreased by 23,000, almost entirely due to a partial shutdown of the Minnesota state government. Employment in local government continued to wane over the month.”
Nonfarm payroll employment was revised upward in May from +25,000 to +53,000 and upward in June from +18,000 to +46,000.
Back to the dismal situation in California….
Hiring in California in July was particularly bleak. As mentioned above, employers added only 4,500 new jobs in July, down sharply from the revised 30,400 jobs added in June!
An interactive map that allows you to track changes in all 50 states over the last year is here!
What parts California are doing well? San Diego bioscience companies and Bay Area startups…! However, growth has STOPPED in the Central Valley, Inland Empire, and Los Angeles. Los Angeles County showed a rise of unemployment from 12% in June to 12.4% in July! According to LATimes.com:
“More than 2.1 million Californians are unemployed; one-third of them have been jobless for a year or more.“
California reported the following with regard to job categories:
“Eight categories (mining and logging; construction; manufacturing; information; professional and business services; educational and health services; leisure and hospitality; and other services) added jobs over the month, gaining 12,600 jobs. Educational and health services posted the largest increase over the month, adding 4,200 jobs. Three categories (trade, transportation and utilities; financial activities; and government) reported job declines over the month, down 8,100 jobs. Government posted the largest decrease over the month, down 5,800 jobs.
In a year-over-year comparison (July 2010 to July 2011), nonfarm payroll employment in California increased by 189,400 jobs (up 1.4 percent).
Eight categories (mining and logging; construction; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; information; professional and business services; educational and health services; and leisure and hospitality) posted job gains over the year, adding 226,600 jobs. Professional and business services posted the largest gain on a numerical basis, adding 59,400 jobs (up 2.9 percent). Information posted the largest gain on a percentage basis, up by 7.1 percent (an increase of 30,000 jobs).
Three categories (financial activities; other services; and government) posted job declines over the year, down 37,200 jobs. Government posted the largest decline on both a numerical and percentage basis, down by 33,000 jobs (a decrease of 1.4 percent).”
Some 22 California counties reported unemployment rates of 15.0% or higher, with Imperial County again leading the pack at 30.8% unemployment!
-Bill at
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