The national unemployment rate held steady at 9.5 percent from June to July, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). However, the economy lost 131,000 nonfarm jobs overall.
Much of the net job loss was in the public sector from thousands of Census-2010 jobs coming to an end. That was no surprise to analysts, as those federal jobs were only temporary; but, the thousands of jobs that state and local governments also cut was unexpected, as were 19,000 fewer private-sector job gains than anticipated.
The private sector gained only a modest 71,000 nonfarm jobs, after analysts expected about 90,000. BLS data now shows that the private sector has netted about 630,000 nonfarm jobs so far in 2010, down from 882,000 after revisions. The economy must net over 100,000 jobs per month after BLS data revisions, just to keep pace with population growth and new entrants into the job market.
Though modest, the most notable July job gains in the private sector were in the manufacturing industry. Automakers and related parts manufacturers did not shut down as seasonally usual in July, which boosted manufacturing net job gains to 36,000. Health care (27,000), transportation and warehousing (12,000), and mining (7,000) also added jobs, as indicated.
Manufacturing, an industry that analysts consider to be a gauge of labor-market health, has added 183,000 jobs since December 2009. That’s encouraging coming out of a recession, but not nearly enough to replace the 2-million-plus jobs that the industry lost to same.
Construction lost jobs in July (-11,000), as it did May-June, further offsetting the industry’s March-April job gains. 10,000 construction workers were not counted as employed in July because they were out on strike, but the remaining construction workers still suffered a net job loss. Homes sales have declined since the first-time homebuyer tax credit expired on April 30; subsequently, the construction industry might continue to lose more jobs than it gains.
The BLS revised its June data, which then showed that the economy actually shed 221,000 jobs in the month, not the 125,000 that the agency initially reported. In the process, June private-sector job gains plummeted from 83,000 to 31,000. Employment, housing and other decaying economic indicators of late, have spawned more talk among analysts about the risk of a double-dip recession.
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The highest unemployment rate during the recession was 10.1 percent set in October 2009, while the highest on record since 1948 was 10.8 set in November 1982. In July a year ago, the unemployment rate was 9.4 percent.
The unemployment rate does not include workers who are involuntarily working only part time (1-34 hours) and with fewer benefits, if any, such as no health, disability or life insurance.
The unemployment rate also does not include “marginally-attached” unemployed workers. The BLS does not count them in the official rate because they gave up looking for work, for reasons such as school attendance, family matters or a collective perception that there are no jobs.
The number of involuntarily part-timers decreased a bit from 8.6 to 8.5 million in July, while the number of marginally-attached workers remained unchanged at 2.6 million. Among the marginally-attached, 1.2 million were so-called “discouraged workers” who gave up looking for work due to their shared perception that there are no jobs.
A total of 14.6 million workers were counted as unemployed in July, unchanged from June, but down from 15 million in May. The number of long-term unemployed workers, those who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, dropped from 6.8 to 6.6 million in July. State unemployment benefits typically last only 26 weeks without state or federal extensions.
Did you know? President Obama signed legislation that restores previously-authorized extended unemployment benefits (Emergency Unemployment Compensation), by stretching out the eligibility date to November 30, 2010.
Roughly 1.4 million unemployed workers have exhausted all of their unemployment benefits. Some refer to themselves as “99ers” because they have exhausted 99 weeks of standard plus extended unemployment benefits, the most weeks currently available depending on state unemployment rates. The number of 99ers is expected to rise for as long as the high unemployment rate persists, unless Congress grants more weeks.
If you’re a recent victim of job loss or a reduction in work hours resulting from the high unemployment rate, then you might be eligible to collect full or partial unemployment benefits from the state unemployment office. You might also be eligible to continue your employer-provided group health insurance coverage through COBRA. Meanwhile, to look for a new job, start at the Job Search page.
For more details about the July 2010 unemployment rate and related matters, see “The Employment Situation” by the BLS. The BLS plans to report the August 2010 unemployment rate on September 3. To receive notification like this, subscribe to Employee Rights Blog for free.
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Certain figures in this unemployment rate report are subject to revision by the BLS. The unemployment rate chart pictured above was provided by the BLS.
