Unemployment Increased by 54,000 in Aug., Rate Up at 9.6%

    

   CRANBURY, N.J. (DTN) -- National nonfarm payroll unemployment increased by 
54,000 in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of 
the U.S. Department of Labor. The increase in the jobless was less than the 
110,000 job losses expected by the market.

   The U.S. unemployment rate increased from 9.5 percent in July to 9.6 percent 
in August. The national jobless rate has fluctuated between 9.5 percent and 9.7 
percent since May.

   The increase in unemployment came with a decline in government payrolls, 
with 114,000 temporary workers hired for the decennial census completing their 
work. 

   Private-sector payroll employment continued a modest trend higher, adding 
67,000 jobs for the U.S. economy in August.

   The number of unemployed persons was little changed in August at 14.9 
million.

   The number of long-term unemployed, those jobless for 27 weeks and over, 
declined by 323,000 over the month to 6.2 million. In August, 42 percent of 
unemployed persons had been jobless for 27 weeks or more.

   In August, the civilian labor force participation rate was flat at 64.7 
percent, as was the employment-population ratio at 58.5 percent.

   The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons, sometimes 
referred to as involuntary part-time workers, increased by 331,000 over the 
month to 8.9 million.

   "These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut 
back or because they were unable to find a full-time job," explains BLS.

   About 2.4 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in 
August, little changed from a year earlier. 

   "These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available 
for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were 
not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks 
preceding the survey," said BLS.

   Among the marginally attached, there were 1.1 million discouraged workers in 
August, an increase of 352,000 from a year earlier. 

   "Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they 
believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.3 million persons 
marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work in the 4 weeks 
preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family 
responsibilities," said BLS.

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