U.S. unemployment rate stagnant in August; California’s increased to 12.1%!
The Employment Situation Summary released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on September 2 showed that nonfarm payroll employment was unchanged (0) in August and the unemployment RATE was also unchanged, at 9.1%. HOWEVER, the report released by the Employment Development Department for August showed that nonfarm payroll jobs DECREASED by 8,400 in August, for a total gain of only 98,500 jobs since the beginning of 2011. I reported on the U.S. and California unemployment rates in July here. California’s was 12.0% in July. In August of 2010, California’s unemployment rose to 12.4%.
What’s up with California? Is it just that “OFFSHORING” is so much CLOSER here? 
I would give you the good news first, but there doesn’t seem to BE any! So I will start with the U.S. employment situation.
The total number of unemployed people in the U.S. in August remained constant at about 14.0 million. The unemployment rate in the U.S. has seen little change since April of 2011.
“Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (8.9 percent), adult women (8.0 percent), teenagers (25.4 percent), white (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.”
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.”
“The labor force rose to 153.6 million in August. Both the civilian labor force participation rate, at 64.0 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 58.2 percent, were little changed.”
The number of people employed part-time for economic reasons (sometimes called “involuntary part-time workers”) ROSE from 8.4 million in July to 8.8 million in August in the U.S. These folks were working part-time either because their hours had been cut back or because they could not find a full-time job. There were about 2.6 million persons who were “marginally attached to the workforce,” UP from 2.4 million a year earlier (data are not seasonally adjusted). These folks were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for work in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks that preceded the survey.
In the “marginally attached” group, there were 977,000 “DISCOURAGED” workers in August, which was down by 133,000 from a year earlier (not seasonally adjusted). Discouraged workers are not currently looking for work because they believe that no jobs are available for them. The other 1.6 million in the marginally attached group had not looked for work in the 4 weeks before the survey for such reasons as family responsibilities or attendance at school.
The total U.S. nonfarm employment was unchanged at 131.1 million. In MOST private-sector industries, employment changed little in August:
“Health care employment rose by 30,000 in August. Ambulatory health care services and hospitals added 18,000 and 8,000 jobs, respectively. Over the past 12 months, health care employment has grown by 306,000.
Employment in mining continued to trend up in August (+6,000). Since reaching a trough in October 2009, employment in mining has risen by 144,000, with mining support activities accounting for most of the gain.
Within professional and business services, computer systems design and related services added 8,000 jobs in August. Employment in temporary help services changed little over the month (+5,000) and has shown little movement on net so far this year.
Employment in the information industry declined by 48,000 in August. About 45,000 workers in the telecommunications industry were on strike and thus off company payrolls during the survey reference period.
Manufacturing employment was essentially unchanged in August (-3,000), following a gain of 36,000 in July. For the past 4 months, manufacturing has added an average of 14,000 jobs per month, compared with an average of 35,000 jobs per month in the first 4 months of the year.
Elsewhere in the private sector, employment in construction; trade, transportation, and utilities; financial activities; and leisure and hospitality changed little over the month.”
Government employment, on the other hand, continued to trend downward in August (-17,000). Employment in state governments has changed little and employment in local governments has continued to decline. From its peak in September 2008, local governments have lost 550,000 jobs.
Previously reported figures for the U.S. were revised downward. The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for June was revised from +46,000 to +20,000, and the change for July was revised from +117,000 to +85,000.
So… what is happening in California, as companies rich with cash watch a slow-motion train wreck in the economy, while refusing to HIRE (in California, that is, or maybe in the U.S.)? I find it amazing sometimes that the U.S. government allows so much offshoring (in contrast to some of its more-successful worldwide competitors).
The number of people who were unemployed in California in August was 2,175,000, which was up by 8,000 over the month but down by 83,000, as compared with last year. The EDD report on payroll employment (wage and salary jobs) in California’s nonfarm industries gave a total of 14, 057, 200 in August, which was a net loss of 8,400 from July. This loss followed a loss of 4,600 jobs (as revised) in July! From August 2010 to August 2011, California’s nonfarm payroll employment GAINED 171,100 jobs (up 1.2%).
Employment in job categories in California looked like this in August:
“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 209,200 jobs. Professional and business services posted the largest gain on a numerical basis, adding 57,700 jobs (up 2.8 percent). Information posted the largest gain on a percentage basis, up by 5.6 percent (an increase of 24,100 jobs).
Three categories (financial activities; other services; and government) posted job declines over the year, down 38,100 jobs. Government posted the largest decline on both a numerical and percentage basis, down by 27,400 jobs (a decrease of 1.1 percent).”
The federal survey of HOUSHOLDS, which was done with a smaller sample size than the study of EMPLOYERS, shows a DECREASE in the number of employed people. (Then again, households may be more HONEST than employers! 😉 ) The survey of households estimates the number of Californians holding jobs in August was 15,830,000, a decrease of 18,000 from July and down 58,000 from the employment total in August of 2010.
There were 17 counties in California with unemployment at or above 15.0% in August, led by Imperial County with 32.4% unemployment.
-Bill at
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