Unemployment Rate Hits Four-Year High

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent for July, the highest it's been in four years. Non-farm payroll employment continues to trend down, at a loss of 51,000 jobs. Employment continues to fall for occupations in construction, manufacturing, and certain service-providing industries, while mining and health care jobs are being added.

The number of unemployed persons has risen by 1.6 million over the last twelve months; currently 8.8 million people are unemployed in the U.S. The number of unemployed persons only includes those who are actively seeking employment.

Teenagers looking to find a summer job and young adults looking to permanently enter the workforce have been met with much disappointed this year; the unemployment rate for their age group is 20.3 percent for July. The recent federal minimum wage increase, combined with a poor economic outlook, likely contribute to the difficulty that young people have in finding a job; business owners who must cut costs during hard times may be reluctant to hire and train inexperienced workers at a higher starting wage.

In July, the number of people who worked part-time jobs for economic reason rose by 308,000 to 5.7 million, and has risen by 1.4 million over the last twelve months. This group of workers includes those who have indicated that they work part-time because their hours have been cut, or that they've taken a part-time job because they couldn't find a full-time position.

The median weekly earnings of the nation's 107.1 million full-time salary and wage workers were $719 in the second quarter of 2008. This was up 4.2 percent from the previous year, compared with a gain of 4.4 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers over the same period.



Source:
www.bls.gov