The official unemployment rate for August is out from the Labor Department and the unemployment rate grew 0.1% to 9.6% as expected. The total non-Farm payrolls was -54,000 in August, but the private sector payrolls showed a gain of 67,000 payrolls. Bloomberg had estimates of -90,000 in non-Farm Payrolls and +40,000 in private sector payrolls; Bloomberg also had estimates of 9.6% for the official unemployment rate.
The July preliminary data showed non-Farm payrolls were down 131,000, but that was cut to a drop of “only’ 54,000 payrolls cut. Private sector jobs added were also revised for July to 107,000. Hourly earnings rose $0.06 to $22.66 per hour and the average workweek was 34.2 hours.
The individual sector breakdown showed a drop of 27,000 in manufacturing, construction added 19,000 jobs, and temporary help rose by 17,000, and Professional-Business services jobs rose by 20,000.
Today’s news is a bit better than expected and the revisions higher in July are helping out as well. Before getting too excited, this level is still just a life-support report in a no-growth to very low-growth economy.
JON C. OGG
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