e-EDGE is now available as an RSS feed. [Click here to subscribe to it.]The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest U.S. Labor Market Report on Friday, covering the U.S. employment situation in August. Total nonfarm employment fell by -84,000 jobs in August. This was a bit bigger than the July loss of -60,000 jobs but smaller than the June drop-off of -100,000 jobs.
Government payrolls increased by +17,000 employees last month; so private-sector payrolls dropped by -101,000 jobs, the ninth consecutive monthly decline. Only one of the ten major industry groups reported higher job counts in August. The only “plus” sector was education & health services, up by +55,000 jobs over the month. In addition, higher job count was reported by one “minor” industry sector: natural resources and mining, with an increase of +12,000 jobs over the month. The biggest payroll declines were reported by manufacturing (-61,000 jobs), professional & business services (-53,000 jobs, partly reflecting the loss of -36,900 temporary help positions), and construction (down by -8,000 jobs over the month).
Compared with 12 months ago, nonfarm employers in the U.S. have reduced payrolls by -283,000 workers, a decrease of just -0.2%. However, private-sector employment was down substantially, dropping by -557,000 jobs or -0.5% over the year. Only a few private-sector industry groups reported higher payrolls compared with August 2007. The big job gainers were education & health services (+575,000 jobs) and leisure & hospitality (+176,000 jobs). Employment also increased over the year in mining (+63,000 jobs) and “other services” (+31,000 jobs).
On the downside, the construction and manufacturing sectors continued to bleed, with job counts plunging by -437,000 jobs and -416,000 jobs respectively compared to August 2007. Note that residential construction employment has declined by -352,300 jobs over the year; so payrolls in nonresidential and heavy construction have fallen by a combined -85,000 workers over the past twelve months. In manufacturing, over one-half of the total job losses came in just four sectors: motor vehicles & parts (-126,600 jobs and counting), wood products (-41,600 jobs), furniture manufacturing (-38,300 jobs), and textiles & apparel (-29,100 jobs).
Conditions didn’t look any better in the separate BLS survey of households. The U.S. unemployment rate jumped to 6.1% in August, well above the 5.5% rate registered in June, and up from 5.7% in July. The nation’s jobless rate was 4.7% in August 2007; so the unemployment rate has risen by +1.4 percentage points over the past 12 months. Among the major demographic groups, the jobless rates for adult men and women rose by +1.5 percentage points and +1.2 percentage points respectively over the year, while the rate for teenagers jumped up by +2.7 percentage points. Over the same period, the unemployment rate for whites and Asians increased by +1.2 percentage points and 1.0 percentage point respectively, while joblessness among blacks was up by +2.9 percentage points. The rate of unemployment among Hispanic workers has risen by +2.5 percentage points.
In another sign of labor market distress, some 5.7 million people were working part-time last month “for economic reasons,” because their employers cut them back from full-time to part-time work or because they couldn’t find full-time work. This group has swelled by 1.2 million workers over the past 12 months, while the number of unemployed surged by 2.2 million.
Labor market conditions have been deteriorating for seven months now, and the cumulative damage is beginning to show. Employment is falling in most sectors of private industry. Since the December, 2007 peak, private employers have let go a total of -772,000 workers (a cumulative decline of -0.7%). The nation’s unemployment rate hit bottom in March, 2007 at 4.4%. By last month, the number of workers without a job had grown by more than 2.6 million. (Candice Flor Hynek)
PR : http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released an upward revision of U.S. productivity in the nonfarm business sector in the second quarter of 2008, up to +4.3% quarter-over-quarter, SAAR (versus the preliminary reading of +2.2%). U.S. workers produced more and worked less during the second quarter of 2008. Final output grew by a revised +3.4% during the second quarter, while hours worked declined by -0.8%. Hourly compensation increased by +3.7%. However, after taking the 5.0% increase in consumer prices into account, real hourly compensation actually declined by -1.3%. The rate of increase in compensation has been going down in the past few quarters, reflecting the softening labor market. Unit labor costs fell by -0.5%, way below the +4.5% increase in 4Q 2007.
In the manufacturing sector, productivity declined by -2.2% in the second quarter, following a revised +3.3% growth the previous quarter. Output during the second quarter declined by -3.7% and total hours worked declined as well, down by -1.5%. This was the largest quarterly decline in manufacturing productivity since the second quarter of 1989 (-2.5%). Hourly compensation for manufacturing has risen by +3.9%. However, after taking consumer prices into account, real hourly compensation actually declined by -1.1%. Unit labor costs rose by +6.2%, following a +0.5% increase the previous quarter.
On a year-over-year basis, final productivity in the nonfarm business sector was better than first reported, increasing by +3.4%. Output went up by +2.2%, while hours worked declined by -1.1%. Nonfarm unit labor costs were up by just +0.6%. Looking at the manufacturing sector, final productivity rose by +2.4% (year-over-year). Output declined by -0.2% and hours worked also declined, falling by -2.5%. Manufacturing unit labor costs were up by +1.4%. Overall, business unit labor costs have softened in the past few quarters with no signs of inflation-push pressures, good news for the Fed. (Candice Flor Hynek)
PR: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/prod2.pdf
In 1978 Jimmy Carter proclaimed the first National Grandparents Day. Since then, the first Sunday after Labor Day (yesterday) has been a day set aside to honor the elders who serve our younger generations as role models and with more than 6.1 million U.S. grandparents care for their grandchildren who are under 18 in some way.
8 percent of all U.S. children (5.7 million) live with at least one grandparent, 3.7 million of which reside in the grandparent’s home. 73% of the grandparents who are caring for their grandchildren reside in an owner occupied home.
40 % of grandparents who have their grandchildren living with them (2.5 million) are responsible for supplying them with basic necessities. This breaks down to 1.6 million grandmothers and 896,000 grandfathers. Of these grandparents, 1.4 million of them are still in the workforce; 477,000 have incomes below the poverty level; and 730,000 have a disability.
The median income for families who utilize grandparents as caregivers increases from $31,405 (without) to $42,111. 30% of U.S. children under 5 are cared for by their grandparents while the mother is working. (Shannon Sedgwick)
Late August and early September heralds the back to school season. Here are several facts about this annual rite of passage.
$7.5 billion was spent on clothing in August of 2007, making it third in sales to the holiday season months of November and December. $2.3 billion was spent at bookstores, making it the third highest month for sales behind January and December.
In October of 2006, 75.2 million people were enrolled in nursery school to college level institutions. For the 2005-06 year, 97,382 public schools and 28,996 private schools were operating. 4,276 US institutions granted college degrees in 2005.
This year’s projected enrollment in K through 12 is 56 million, 11% of students will be enrolled in private schools. 33% of all U.S. children ages 6 to 11 participated in an afterschool or weekend extracurricular lesson as of 2004, while 30.5 million children participated in the national school lunch program each month in 2007. As of October 2006, 41% of elementary through high school students were minorities. In this 2008-09 academic school year, 3.3 million high school diplomas are expected to be awarded.
This fall, 18.4 million students are projected to be enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, up by 36% from two decades ago. The average annual tuition for four-year public universities ($14,203) and for four-year private universities ($38,400), have more than doubled since 1990. As of 2006, 46% of young adults, ages 18 and 19, were enrolled in college; 69% of undergraduates were enrolled in a four year institution; 37% of college students were 25 and older; and 56% of undergraduates were women. 25 % of all bachelor’s degrees were awarded with a major of business (8.6 million) in 2004. The average starting salary for a petroleum engineer with a bachelor’s degree in 2007 was $59,408; students majoring in humanities had an average starting salary of $31,345. The average time to earn a bachelor’s degree was 4.4 years, 1.2 years less than the average time to finish an associate’s degree (5.6 years).
There were 7.1 million teachers in the U.S. in 2007. The national average salary of a public school teacher for 2005-06 was $49,026. California had the highest average salary in the U.S. at $59,825. In 2006-07, high school principals earned $92,965; school bus drivers earned $15.48 per hour; custodians earned $13.78 per hour; and cafeteria workers pulled in $11.16 per hour.
Nationally, $9,138 was spent per pupil in 2006, for public elementary and secondary education. New York ($14, 884), New Jersey ($14,630), and Washington DC ($13,446) had the highest per- pupil expenditures; while Utah had the lowest at $5,437. (Shannon Sedgwick)
Wednesday, September 10: High Gas Prices: The Tipping Point - A Regional Response to a Global Crisis
The Southern California Association of Governments, county transportation agencies and Mobility 21 invite you to a discussion on the impact of increasing gas prices on the region and how residents, public agencies and the corporate world are responding.
Thursday, September 11: Asia Society Southern California: Business Leader Roundtable with Tejpreet S. Chopra, President and CEO of GE India
Mr. Chopra is responsible for directing GE’s strategies for growth in India. Prior to assuming his current role, Tejpreet served as President and CEO of GE Commercial Finance in India.
Tuesday, September 16: Los Angeles NABE – What is a Recession, Anyway? with Dr. Edward Leamer, Director of UCLA Anderson Forecast
Well renowned and respected economist Dr. Edward Leamer will share his views on our current economic situation.
Thursday, September 25: South Bay Economic Development Partnership: 14th Annual Economic Forecast Conference
The conference is your opportunity to learn about the present economy and how to best prepare for its future!
Save the Date! Monday, November 17: The LAEDC 13th Annual Eddy Awards®
The Eddy Awards® is a cocktail, dinner, and awards gala to support fulfillment of the LAEDC mission to attract, retain, and grow businesses and jobs for the regions of Los Angeles County. The Awards were introduced by the LAEDC in 1996 to celebrate individuals, organizations, and now cities that demonstrate exceptional contributions to positive economic development in the region. Confirmed honoree: Rick Caruso, developer of The Grove and the Americana.
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