Employment Situation Summary
Technical information:
Household data: (202) 691-6378 USDL 04-1728
http://www.bls.gov/cps/
Establishment data: 691-6555 Transmission of material in this release
http://www.bls.gov/ces/ is embargoed until 8:30 A.M. (EDT),
Media contact: 691-5902 Friday, September 3, 2004.
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: AUGUST 2004
Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 144,000 in August, and the unemployment
rate was little changed at 5.4 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the month, job growth occurred
in several service-providing industries.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
Both the number of unemployed persons, 8.0 million, and the unemployment
rate, 5.4 percent, were little changed from July to August. The jobless rate
is down from its recent high of 6.3 percent in June 2003; most of this decline
occurred in the second half of last year. In August, the unemployment rates
for the major worker groups--adult men (5.0 percent), adult women (4.7 percent),
teenagers (17.0 percent), whites (4.7 percent), blacks (10.4 percent), and
Hispanics or Latinos (6.9 percent)--showed little change over the month. The
unemployment rate for Asians was 3.6 percent in August, not seasonally adjusted.
(See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
Total employment held at 139.7 million in August, and the employment-pop-
ulation ratio--the proportion of the population age 16 and over with jobs--
was essentially unchanged at 62.4 percent. The civilian labor force was about
unchanged over the month at 147.7 million. After rising in July, the labor
force participation rate edged down to its June level of 66.0 percent. (See
table A-1.)
Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
The number of persons who were marginally attached to the labor force was
1.6 million in August, about the same as a year earlier. (Data are not sea-
sonally adjusted.) These individuals wanted and were available to work and
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| Hurricane Charley |
| |
| Hurricane Charley struck Florida during the August survey refer- |
| ence period. BLS made additional data collection efforts for the |
| hurricane-affected counties to ensure that payroll survey response |
| rates were at normal levels. Our examination of the survey data |
| suggests that there were no discernable weather-related effects on |
| national payroll employment as measured by the establishment survey. |
| This was likely due to the fact that the storm hit late in the re- |
| porting period for most of our survey respondents. For the storm |
| to have affected payroll employment, people would have had to have |
| been off work for the entire pay period and not paid for the time |
| missed. (In the household survey, people who miss work for weath- |
| er-related events are counted as employed whether or not they are |
| paid for the time off.) |
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Table A. Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
______________________________________________________________________________
| Quarterly | |
| averages | Monthly data |
|_________________|__________________________| July-
Category | 2004 | 2004 | Aug.
|_________________|__________________________|change
| I | II | June | July | Aug. |
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
HOUSEHOLD DATA | Labor force status
|____________________________________________________
Civilian labor force.....| 146,661| 146,998| 147,279| 147,856| 147,704| -152
Employment.............| 138,388| 138,793| 139,031| 139,660| 139,681| 21
Unemployment...........| 8,273| 8,205| 8,248| 8,196| 8,022| -174
Not in labor force.......| 75,695| 75,975| 75,916| 75,565| 75,973| 408
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Unemployment rates
|____________________________________________________
All workers..............| 5.6| 5.6| 5.6| 5.5| 5.4| -0.1
Adult men..............| 5.1| 5.1| 5.0| 4.9| 5.0| .1
Adult women............| 5.0| 4.9| 5.0| 4.9| 4.7| -.2
Teenagers..............| 16.6| 17.0| 16.8| 17.6| 17.0| -.6
White..................| 5.0| 5.0| 5.0| 4.8| 4.7| -.1
Black or African | | | | | |
American.............| 10.1| 9.9| 10.1| 10.9| 10.4| -.5
Hispanic or Latino | | | | | |
ethnicity............| 7.4| 7.0| 6.7| 6.8| 6.9| .1
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
ESTABLISHMENT DATA | Employment
|____________________________________________________
Nonfarm employment.......| 130,367| 131,125| 131,258|p131,331|p131,475| p144
Goods-producing 1/.....| 21,719| 21,869| 21,891| p21,906| p21,942| p36
Construction.........| 6,819| 6,897| 6,911| p6,915| p6,930| p15
Manufacturing........| 14,326| 14,385| 14,393| p14,399| p14,421| p22
Service-providing 1/...| 108,648| 109,256| 109,367|p109,425|p109,533| p108
Retail trade 2/......| 14,974| 15,047| 15,055| p15,041| p15,030| p-11
Professional and | | | | | |
business services..| 16,202| 16,417| 16,457| p16,504| p16,536| p32
Education and health | | | | | |
services...........| 16,774| 16,874| 16,897| p16,913| p16,958| p45
Leisure and | | | | | |
hospitality........| 12,239| 12,324| 12,339| p12,340| p12,346| p6
Government...........| 21,540| 21,548| 21,528| p21,541| p21,565| p24
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Hours of work 3/
|____________________________________________________
Total private............| 33.8| 33.7| 33.6| p33.8| p33.8| p0.0
Manufacturing..........| 41.0| 40.9| 40.8| p40.9| p40.9| p.0
Overtime.............| 4.6| 4.6| 4.6| p4.6| p4.6| p.0
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Indexes of aggregate weekly hours (2002=100) 3/
|____________________________________________________
Total private............| 99.3| 99.8| 99.7| p100.4| p100.6| p0.2
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Earnings 3/
|____________________________________________________
Avg. hourly earnings, | | | | | |
total private..........| $15.52| $15.63| $15.66| p$15.72| p$15.77| p$0.05
Avg. weekly earnings, | | | | | |
total private..........| 524.58| 526.62| 526.18| p531.34| p533.03| p1.69
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
1 Includes other industries, not shown separately.
2 Quarterly averages and the over-the-month change are calculated based on
unrounded data.
3 Data relate to private production or nonsupervisory workers.
p=preliminary.
- 3 -
had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted
as unemployed, however, because they did not actively search for work in the
4 weeks preceding the survey. There were 534,000 discouraged workers in
August, also about the same as a year earlier. Discouraged workers, a subset
of the marginally attached, were not currently looking for work specifically
because they believed no jobs were available for them. The other 1.1 million
marginally attached had not searched for work for reasons such as school or
family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)
Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 144,000 in August to 131.5
million, seasonally adjusted. Over the year, payroll employment has risen by
1.7 million, with slightly more than half the gain (885,000) occurring from
March through May of this year. Since May, nonfarm employment has risen by
313,000, as revised. In August, there were job gains in health care and so-
cial assistance, financial activities, and professional and technical services.
(See table B-1.)
Within the service-providing sector, health care and social assistance
continued to add jobs, with an increase of 42,000 in August. Over the year,
employment in this industry has risen by 307,000. In August, employment rose in
ambulatory health care services (+11,000), which includes doctors' offices and
home health care services, and in hospitals (+8,000). Social assistance added
20,000 jobs, following no net change over the prior 3 months.
Employment in financial activities increased by 18,000 in August, more than
offsetting an employment decline in July. Rental and leasing services added
7,000 jobs over the month, and securities, commodity contracts, and investments
added 4,000. Over the year, securities employment has increased by 32,000.
Professional and technical services added 22,000 jobs over the month.
Within this industry, employment rose in computer systems design and related
services (+9,000); over the year, computer systems design has added 36,000
jobs. Employment in temporary help services was little changed in August for
the third consecutive month.
Within the information industry, employment continued to trend down in
telecommunications. Since its most recent peak in March 2001, the tele-
communications industry has lost 293,000 jobs, or 22 percent of its employ-
ment.
In the goods-producing sector, employment in manufacturing edged up (+22,000)
in August. Employment in transportation equipment rebounded (+28,000) from a
loss in the previous month, but this increase mostly reflected auto workers re-
turning to work from the larger-than-usual annual retooling shutdowns in July.
Since January, manufacturing has added 107,000 jobs, due to growth in its dur-
able goods component. Construction employment edged up in August, following 2
months of little change.
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Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)
The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls was unchanged in August at 33.8 hours, seasonally adjusted.
The manufacturing workweek (40.9 hours) and manufacturing overtime (4.6 hours)
also were unchanged over the month. (See table B-2.)
The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory work-
ers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.2 percent in August to 100.6
(2002=100). The manufacturing index rose by 0.3 percent to 95.5. (See table
B-5.)
Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)
Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls increased by 5 cents in August to $15.77, seasonally adjusted.
Average weekly earnings increased by 0.3 percent over the month to $533.03.
Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 2.3 percent, and average
weekly earnings grew by 2.9 percent. (See table B-3.)
______________________________
The Employment Situation for September 2004 is scheduled to be released on
Friday, October 8, at 8:30 A.M. (EDT).
Last Modified Date: September 03, 2004