Disappointing M/M Employment Results
According to August’s Employment Situation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the total number of jobs in the U.S. economy in the latest month rose by +1.4 million and the seasonally adjusted (SA) unemployment rate decreased to 8.4% from 10.2% in July.
The not seasonally adjusted (NSA) unemployment rate in August was 8.5%, down from 10.5% the month before. The total number of unemployment individuals in America is now 13.6 million. In August of last year, the figure was 6.0 million.
The increase of +1.4 million jobs was a slowing from +1.7 million in July and +4.8 million in June.
The headline numbers on jobs gain and jobless rate are probably going to be greeted with enthusiasm. It’s somewhat disappointing, though, that the percentage increases in jobs month to month for most industrial sectors aren’t more upbeat. Base or ‘denominator’ levels for the calculation are quite low
