August Payroll Employment Rises; Unemployment Rate Edges Down
September 14, 2012

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 96,000 in August, and the unemployment rate edged down to 8.1 percent. Since the beginning of this year, the rate has held in a narrow range of 8.1 to 8.3 percent and the number of unemployed persons, at 12.5 million, was little changed in August. In August, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 5.0 million. These individuals accounted for 40.0 percent of the unemployed.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 96,000 in August. Since the beginning of this year, employment growth has averaged 139,000 per month, compared with an average monthly gain of 153,000 in 2011. Manufacturing employment edged down in August (-15,000) and employment in other major industries, such as mining and logging and construction, showed little change over the month, according to the BLS.

In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 1 cent to $23.52. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings rose by 1.7 percent. In August, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees edged down by 1 cent to $19.75. The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for June was revised from +64,000 to +45,000, and the change for July was revised from +163,000 to +141,000.