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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJob growth slows sharply in August
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Job growth slowed sharply in August, the Labor Department said Friday. Total nonfarm payrolls increased by 96,000, lower than the 125,000 gain expected by Wall Street economists. Adding to the sense of weakness, job growth in the past two months were revised down by 41,000. The unemployment rate declined to 8.1% in August from 8.3% in the previous month but the drop was due to a smaller labor force. Economists forecast the unemployment rate to hold steady at 8.3%. Average hourly earnings were flat at $23.52. Earnings are up 1.7% in the past year. The average workweek was unchanged at 34.3 hours.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/job-growth-slows-sharply-in-august-2012-09-07?dist=beforebell
xchrom
(108,903 posts)God, I feel like crying
Inuca
(8,945 posts)but it's not, it's "arithmetic". And yes, jobs were added, not lost. But far from enough, whatever enough means... Now, wait for a few minutes for the RRR comments of doom & gloom to start coming out. THAT will be spin.
BumRushDaShow
(127,298 posts)compared to Shrub, where there was a net NEGATIVE of jobs - more jobs being lost than created.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)kelly1mm
(4,719 posts)cynatnite
(31,011 posts)bigdarryl
(13,190 posts)Not good but 96,000 is better than 96,000 lost
kelly1mm
(4,719 posts)mick063
(2,424 posts)If you include the Southern Hemisphere. Which we must do with current policy.
kelly1mm
(4,719 posts)mick063
(2,424 posts)What use is it to track only US population growth when a significant amount of employment goes to non US citizens both outside and within our borders?
marmar
(76,982 posts)Huh?
kelly1mm
(4,719 posts)States to keep up with the growth in the number of people residing in the United States. Is that clear now?
mick063
(2,424 posts)It was 100k new jobs.
Bush was shedding 500K per month.
There is a propaganda word in there (expected). Expected by whom? A newspaper owned by the 1%?
Inuca
(8,945 posts)spin, BS or otherwise, is burying one's head in the sand. It's not helpful.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)It's actually good news because it was an increase in jobs. Maybe it isn't the best of news, but it's still on the positive side of zero. And it's going in the right direction.
The spin is that this publication is pretending that the glass is half empty when it's actually half full because it wasn't a full glass that tipped over and spilled half its water. It's a glass that was empty and the water was added to it.
But there's always someone who can't see the spin for what it is.
Inuca
(8,945 posts)The new figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the U.S. economy added 96,000 jobs in August, short of the 125,000 expected. The unemployment rate dropped from 8.3% to 8.1%, and while that may seem encouraging, the figure is misleading -- the "improvement" isn't the result of more jobs; it's the result of fewer people in the workforce.
Robyn66
(1,675 posts)8.3 to 8.1 is pretty good. But I think we all know what Romney Ryan will do.
Barack_America
(28,876 posts)I don't know much about economics (yet!), but don't we usually see this pattern in the fall, when construction projects end and companies hunker down in the last quarter?
Looking at the official data (http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0000000001?output_view=net_1mth) April clearly sucked, with a slow steady recovery since (with the typical summer jump)??
I mean, I'm sure that's not going to stop the Republicans from crowing about how much this country sucks and how shunting more money to the rich is the cure-all, but I'm personally not really surprised by these numbers.
KharmaTrain
(31,706 posts)The fact there is still job growth despite all the efforts by the rushpublicans and their corporate puppetmasters to destroy the economy is a positive...but one that can't be applauded on a singluar basis but kept in the context that we're still seeing private sector hiring...a lot better than what we encountered during the boooooosh years.
The biggest factor holding back any long term recovery is the lack of increase in public sector jobs. In almost every recession over the last 80 years it was government hiring...be it through a works program, stimulus program, tax break or war that would knock down the unemployment figures and help create some jobs and income during tough times. Thanks to the rushpublican gutting of state budgets and the tax breaks for the rich that had a disastrous effect on the bottom lines on ALL states the recession is being prolonged and deepened. Simple solution: replace as many rushpublicans...raise taxes on those earning over 250k a year and help rebuild those diminished state treasuries that would lead to more hiring...