More of the Same Numbers for Employment

The Labor Department reported the nation's unemployment rate reached a four-year high of 5.7 percent in July and employers slashed payrolls by another 51,000.

The rise in the unemployment rate from 5.5 percent in June to 5.7 percent was due in large part to a surge in unemployment among younger workers. Over the last three months, the unemployment rate for 16 to 19-year olds averaged 19.0 percent and the jobless rate for 20 to 24-year olds was 10.2 percent.

The unemployment rate has risen by almost a full percentage point since the 4.8 percent reading in February, the steepest climb over a five month period since 2001.

Job losses occurred in the usual categories - construction and manufacturing - with the biggest decline seen in trade, transportation, and utilities where declines were broad based, wholesale trade, retail trade, and transportation all declining sharply.

As has been the case for many months now, job creation in health care and government offset some of the other job losses but, so far in 2008, nonfarm payrolls have declined by 463,000 and year over year job growth again rounds to 0.0 percent.

Comments

[billb:]

I'm glad you pinpointed the area of the job losses for us. I just wasn't seeing any headlines that companies are "discriminating" against younger workers. Seems like when the job losses are on the other side of the age scale, it's discrimination. :)

2008 Aug 03 10:42 AM

[sorgmot:]

There is not much to like in what one can see. Those elected officials running the US economy have set the stage for implosion of economic activity in the US along with US asset value collapse for houses and businesses and the value of the dollar. There are massive debts to foreigners in US dollars.

Look back through thousands of years of history. These conditions have occured many times in many countries around the world. The usual response by the debtor is to kill the creditors and destroy their assets and write off the debts to them and then sell them new assets that the former debtor turned victor charges high prices for.

But in the long run, even Rome fell and never rose again.

2008 Aug 03 10:44 AM