According to the BLS Economic Situation Summary released today, the unemployment rate for August edged up slightly to 9.6% with about 54,000 jobs lost from nonfarm payroll, less than expected by economists. This job loss was mostly due to an additional 114,000 census jobs that expired last month. However, private sector businesses added 67,000 jobs in August – a good sign in the job market.
Some of the big changes:
- Healthcare jobs rose 28,000 in August, mostly from a rise in ambulatory healthcare services and hospital workers. The healthcare industry continues to improve despite the economy.
- Mining jobs also increased, by 8,000 last month. Simply Hired has also seen mining job trends moving up – a 56% increase since January ’09.
- Manufacturing jobs decreased 27,000 over the past month, mostly within motor vehicles and parts manufacturing. Simply Hired also saw a downward manufacturing trends line – decreasing 9% over the past year and a half.
- Government jobs continued to fall – down 121,000 jobs lost reflecting the 114,000 census workers whose jobs ended in August. Government job trends show a decrease of 19%.