Home » U.S. adds 142,000 jobs; unemployment rate edges down to 6.1%

U.S. adds 142,000 jobs; unemployment rate edges down to 6.1%

WASHINGTON,D.C. (Sept. 5, 2014) — Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 142,000 in August, and the
unemployment rate was little changed at 6.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in professional and business
services and in health care.

Household Survey Data

Application for employmentIn August, both the unemployment rate (6.1 percent) and the number of unemployed
persons (9.6 million) changed little. Over the year, the unemployment rate and
the number of unemployed persons were down by 1.1 percentage points and 1.7 million,
respectively.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates in August showed little or
no change for adult men (5.7 percent), adult women (5.7 percent), teenagers (19.6
percent), whites (5.3 percent), blacks (11.4 percent), and Hispanics (7.5 percent).
The jobless rate for Asians was 4.5 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little
changed from a year earlier.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) declined
by 192,000 to 3.0 million in August. These individuals accounted for 31.2 percent
of the unemployed. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed has
declined by 1.3 million.

The civilian labor force participation rate, at 62.8 percent, changed little in
August and has been essentially unchanged since April. In August, the employment-
population ratio was 59.0 percent for the third consecutive month but is up by 0.4
percentage point from a year earlier.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred
to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed in August at 7.3 million.
These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or
because they were unable to find a full-time job.

In August, 2.1 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down
by 201,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These
individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and
had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as
unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the
survey. (See table A-16.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 775,000 discouraged workers in August,
little changed from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.)
Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they
believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.4 million persons
marginally attached to the labor force in August had not searched for work
for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See
table A-16.)

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 142,000 in August, compared with
an average monthly gain of 212,000 over the prior 12 months. In August, job
growth occurred in professional and business services and in health care. (See
table B-1.)

Professional and business services added 47,000 jobs in August and has added
639,000 over the past year. In August, management of companies and enterprises
gained 8,000 jobs. Employment continued to trend up over the month in administrative
and support services (+23,000), architectural and engineering services (+3,000),
and in management and technical consulting services (+3,000).

Employment in healthcare increased by 34,000 in August. Within the industry,
offices of physicians and hospitals added 8,000 jobs and 7,000 jobs, respectively.
Social assistance employment continued to trend up over the month (+9,000) and has
expanded by 104,000 over the year.

Within leisure and hospitality, employment in food services and drinking places
continued to trend up in August (+22,000) and is up by 289,000 over the year.

Construction employment continued to trend up in August (+20,000). This is in line
with its average monthly job gain of 18,000 over the prior 12 months. In August,
employment trended up in specialty trade contractors (+12,000) and construction of
buildings (+7,000).

Manufacturing employment was unchanged in August, following an increase of 28,000
in July. Motor vehicles and parts lost 5,000 jobs in August, after adding 13,000
jobs in July. Auto manufacturers laid off fewer workers than usual for factory
retooling in July, and fewer workers than usual were recalled in August. Elsewhere
in manufacturing, there were job gains in August in computer and peripheral
equipment (+3,000) and in nonmetallic mineral products (+3,000), and job losses in
electronic instruments (-2,000).

In August, retail trade employment was little changed (-8,000). Food and beverage
stores lost 17,000 jobs; this industry was impacted by employment disruptions at a
grocery store chain in New England. Elsewhere in retail trade, automobile dealers
added 5,000 jobs.

Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, wholesale trade,
transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, and government,
showed little change over the month.

In August, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was
34.5 hours for the sixth consecutive month. The manufacturing workweek edged up by
0.1 hour to 41.0 hours, and overtime was unchanged at 3.4 hours. The average
workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls
was 33.7 hours for the sixth consecutive month. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 6
cents in August to $24.53. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by
2.1 percent. In August, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and
nonsupervisory employees rose by 6 cents to $20.68. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for June was revised from +298,000
to +267,000, and the change for July was revised from +209,000 to +212,000. With
these revisions, employment gains in June and July combined were 28,000 less than
previously reported.

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The Employment Situation for September is scheduled to be released on Friday,
October 3, 2014, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).