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September 2, 2005

August jobs report, Fri., September 2, 2005, 11:25 AM

The detail of the newly released Jobs Report shows an increase of +169,000 jobs, including +156,000 in the services sector and just +13,000 in the goods-producing sector.

There was, once again, a decline (-14,000) in the manufacturing sector, which was offset by an increase (+25,000) in new construction jobs, mostly in specialty trade contractors.

As well, there was another increase (about +54,000) in part-time jobs included in the total net new jobs.

Manufacturing jobs are now down "110,000 in the past eight months. Of that total, about half has been in the autos and auto parts manufacturers industry.

Of some concern is the detail contained in the unemployment rate, which in total decreased from 5.0 pct to 4.9 pct. But among the least advantaged segments, there was an increase in unemployment of teenagers from 16.1 pct to 16.5 pct, of black or African-American from 9.5 pct to 9.6 pct, and of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity from 5.5 pct to 5.8 pct.

There will now be many hundreds of thousands of jobs lost due to Katrina, directly and indirectly. In addition, the effect of Katrina in driving up energy costs will have negative effects in other employment in the current month.

So, as the September jobs report is expected to be highly negative, you can expect the following chart to look much like the picture that followed 9/11/01 through first half 2003. And without jobs, which produce income needed for personal expenditures, there is a clear and present danger to the U.S. economy.

In the next few weeks, I'll look at this issue in depth.

Posted by Posted by Bill Cara on September 2, 2005 11:26:38 AM | Category: Economics

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