09.14.07
Economic Trends
The Employment Situation, August
In August, the economy lost jobs for the first time since August 2003. The unemployment rate remains about the same but it is because both household employment (-316,000) and the labor force (-340,000) declined sharply. The drop of 4,000 jobs was considerably below the market expectation of about a 100,000 gain. In addition, job gains in the prior two months were revised down by a combined 81,000 jobs; the June number was revised down to 69,000 from 126,000 and the July number was revised down to 68,000 from 92,000. (See Revisions to Employment Report for more detail about the revision.) Accompanied with the downward revisions, this report suggests that there has been a noticeable slowing in employment growth during the summer months.
Labor Market Conditions
| Average monthly change (thousands of employees, NAICS) |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | Jan-May 2007 | June 2007 | ||||
| Payroll employment | 172 |
212 |
189 |
148 |
132 |
|||
| Goods-producing | 28 |
32 |
9 |
–14 |
–3 |
|||
| Construction | 26 |
35 |
11 |
–3 |
12 |
|||
| Manufacturing | 0 |
–7 |
–7 |
–13 |
–18 |
|||
| Durable goods | 8 |
2 |
0 |
–12 |
–13 |
|||
| Nondurable goods | –9 |
–9 |
–6 |
–1 |
–5 |
|||
| Service-providing | 144 |
180 |
179 |
162 |
135 |
|||
| Retail trade | 16 |
19 |
–3 |
13 |
–24 |
|||
| Financial activitiesa | 8 |
14 |
16 |
5 |
1 |
|||
| PBSb | 38 |
57 |
42 |
18 |
–9 |
|||
| Temporary help services | 11 |
18 |
–1 |
–8 |
–8 |
|||
| Education and health services | 33 |
36 |
41 |
46 |
59 |
|||
| Leisure and Hospitality | 25 |
23 |
38 |
31 |
39 |
|||
| Government | 14 |
14 |
20 |
28 |
40 |
|||
| Average for period (percent) | ||||||||
| Civilian unemployment rate | 5.5 |
5.1 |
4.6 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
|||
a.Financial activities include the finance, insurance, and real estate sector and the rental and leasing sector.
b.
PBS is professional business services (professional, scientific, and technical services, management of companies and enterprises, administrative and support, and waste management and remediation services.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.