Economic News Release USDL-20-1650

Employment Situation Summary
Transmission of material in this news release is embargoed until 8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, September 4, 2020

Technical information:
Household data: cpsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/cps
Establishment data: cesinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/ces

Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov


THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- AUGUST 2020


Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 1.4 million in August, and the unemployment rate fell to 8.4 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. These improvements in the labor market reflect the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it. In August, an increase in government employment largely reflected temporary hiring for the 2020 Census. Notable job gains also occurred in retail trade, in professional and business services, in leisure and hospitality, and in education and health services.

This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical Note.

Household Survey Data

In August, the unemployment rate declined by 1.8 percentage points to 8.4 percent, and the number of unemployed persons fell by 2.8 million to 13.6 million. Both measures have declined for 4 consecutive months but are higher than in February, by 4.9 percentage points and 7.8 million, respectively. (See table A-1. For more information about how the household survey and its measures were affected by the coronavirus pandemic, see the box note at the end of this news release.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates declined in August for adult men (8.0 percent), adult women (8.4 percent), teenagers (16.1 percent), Whites (7.3 percent), Blacks (13.0 percent), and Hispanics (10.5 percent). The jobless rate for Asians (10.7 percent) changed little over the month. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

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The Employment Situation for September is scheduled to be released on Friday, October 2, 2020,
at 8:30 a.m. (ET).


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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Impact on August 2020 Establishment and Household Survey Data

Data collection for both surveys was affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In the
establishment survey, approximately one-fifth of the establishments are assigned to four
regional data collection centers for collection. Although these centers were closed,
interviewers at these centers worked remotely to collect data by telephone. Additionally, BLS
encouraged businesses to report electronically. The collection rate for the establishment
survey was 77 percent in August, higher than the average for the 12 months ending in February
2020. The household survey is generally conducted through in-person and telephone interviews.
However, for the safety of both interviewers and respondents, the vast majority of interviews
were done by telephone, with in-person interviews conducted on a limited basis in some areas
of the country. The household survey response rate was 70 percent in August, up from the low
of 65 percent in June but well below the average rate of 83 percent for the 12 months prior
to the pandemic.

In the establishment survey, workers who are paid by their employer for all or any part of
the pay period including the 12th of the month are counted as employed, even if they were not
actually at their jobs. Workers who are temporarily or permanently absent from their jobs and
are not being paid are not counted as employed, even if they are continuing to receive
benefits.

In the household survey, individuals are classified as employed, unemployed, or not in the
labor force based on their answers to a series of questions about their activities during the
survey reference week (August 9th through August 15th). Workers who indicate they were not
working during the entire survey reference week and expect to be recalled to their jobs
should be classified as unemployed on temporary layoff. As in recent months, a large number
of persons were classified as unemployed on temporary layoff in August.

Since March, household survey interviewers have been instructed to classify employed persons
absent from work due to temporary, coronavirus-related business closures or cutbacks as
unemployed on temporary layoff. BLS and Census Bureau analyses of the underlying data suggest
there still may be some workers affected by the pandemic who should have been classified as
unemployed on temporary layoff. However, the share of responses that may have been
misclassified was much smaller in July and August than in prior months.

For March through July, BLS published an estimate of what the unemployment rate would have
been had misclassified workers been included. Repeating this same approach, the overall
August unemployment rate would have been 0.7 percentage point higher than reported. However,
this represents the upper bound of our estimate of misclassification and probably overstates
the size of the misclassification error.

According to usual practice, the data from the household survey are accepted as recorded. To
maintain data integrity, no ad hoc actions are taken to reclassify survey responses.

More information is available at
www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-situation-covid19-faq-august-2020.htm.
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Employment Situation Summary Table A. Household data, seasonally adjusted
Employment Situation Summary Table B. Establishment data, seasonally adjusted
Employment Situation Frequently Asked Questions
Employment Situation Technical Note
Table A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age
Table A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age
Table A-3. Employment status of the Hispanic or Latino population by sex and age
Table A-4. Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment
Table A-5. Employment status of the civilian population 18 years and over by veteran status, period of service, and sex, not seasonally adjusted
Table A-6. Employment status of the civilian population by sex, age, and disability status, not seasonally adjusted
Table A-7. Employment status of the civilian population by nativity and sex, not seasonally adjusted
Table A-8. Employed persons by class of worker and part-time status
Table A-9. Selected employment indicators
Table A-10. Selected unemployment indicators, seasonally adjusted
Table A-11. Unemployed persons by reason for unemployment
Table A-12. Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment
Table A-13. Employed and unemployed persons by occupation, not seasonally adjusted
Table A-14. Unemployed persons by industry and class of worker, not seasonally adjusted
Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization
Table A-16. Persons not in the labor force and multiple jobholders by sex, not seasonally adjusted
Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
Table B-2. Average weekly hours and overtime of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted
Table B-3. Average hourly and weekly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted
Table B-4. Indexes of aggregate weekly hours and payrolls for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted
Table B-5. Employment of women on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted
Table B-6. Employment of production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted(1)
Table B-7. Average weekly hours and overtime of production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted(1)
Table B-8. Average hourly and weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted(1)
Table B-9. Indexes of aggregate weekly hours and payrolls for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted(1)

Access to historical data for the "A" tables of the Employment Situation News Release
Access to historical data for the "B" tables of the Employment Situation News Release
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Last Modified Date: September 04, 2020