The employment situation for August is improved as per the report of the U.S Department of Labor. With this sustained growth, the country seems to be getting brighter by each passing month. The year 2015 has probably been the finest in the current decade with sustained progression across sectors and demographics.
As a part of our monthly commitment, we bring to you, pleasant news from the U.S Department of Labor, reporting the employment situation in the US for August. The Bureau of Labor Statistics published its monthly dossier earlier this month, throwing light on the Employment Situation in the USA.
Titled “THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION — AUGUST 2015”, this release provides a comprehensive break up of employment statistics and data. Let us unravel key aspects that touch your world. The overall unemployment fell to 5.1%, bringing cheers to the efforts of government agencies. The total payroll employment(non-farm) edged up by 173,000 during this month. Compared to the same period in 2014, the jobless rate was down by 1.0% complemented by fall in unemployed persons by 1.5 million.
Unemployment Rate Among Major Workers Groups
- Adult Men – 4.7%
- Adult Women – 4.7%
- Teenagers – 16.9%
The jobless rate for teenagers continued to trend up while the other two categories witnessed a negligible fall. The focus for government agencies in the next few months should be to improve job environment for teens.
Unemployment Rate Among Ethnic Groups
- Blacks – 9.5%
- Asians – 3.5%
- Whites – 4.4%
- Hispanics – 6.6%
Except for whites, none of the other ethnic groups witnessed a considerable fall in jobless rates.
General Highlights
- People falling in the category of unemployed for less than 5 weeks fell by a whopping 393,000 to stand at 2.1 million during the month of August.
- Around 2.2 million people were grouped as long term unemployed(jobless for more than 27 weeks) accounting for 27.7 % of unemployed persons in August. Numbers in this division has been freefalling over the last 12 months justified by reduction of about 779,000.
- About 6.5 million persons were employed part-time for economic reasons in August. People in this division could not work full time due to a deliberation from the employer(Eg. Hours cut).
- The number of persons marginally attached to the labor force stood at 1.8 million, down by 329,000 from the same month in 2014. This category is not considered as unemployed since people did not search for jobs during the 4 weeks immediately preceding this survey.
- About 624,000 workers were classified as discouraged workers, down by 151,000 from August 2014. This category of workers has stopped looking for jobs since they believe jobs are not available for them due to various reasons.
Establishment Survey Data
Non-farm payroll employment growth averaged 247,000(monthly) in the last 12 months. Formidable among all sectors were Health Care and Social Assistance, which added 56,000 jobs during August 2015. Employment in Manufacturing reduced by 17,000 jobs in August followed by the Mining industry which lost 9,000 jobs.
Employment Status for August in Various Industries(Top Performing)
1) Health care and Social Assistance stood strong on top of the charts with additions of 41,000 and 16,000 respectively. Over the year, employment in Health care surged up by 457,000 while the Social Assistance sector added 107,000 jobs.
- Ambulatory Health Care Services – +21,000 jobs
- Hospitals – +16,000 jobs
2) The Financial Activities sector also performed well by adding 19,000 jobs and clocking an impressive over the year surge of 170,000 jobs.
- Real Estate – +8,000 jobs
- Securities, Commodity Contracts & Investments – +5,000
** From making significant job additions in July, Manufacturing lost around 17,000 jobs in August. Since the beginning of 2015, this sector has seen minor falls and gains.
- Fabricated Metal Products & Food Manufacturing -7,000 each
- Motor Vehicles and Parts – +6,000
All other major industries such as government, retail trade & construction did not see major changes in its employment numbers during August.
Other Highlights
- The average workweek for all employees rose by 0.1 hours to 34.6 hours during this month.
- The average workweek for persons employed in manufacturing was little changed from July at 40.8 hours and factory overtime averaged at 3.3 hours, down by 0.1 hours.
- During August 2015, the average hourly earnings for all employees( private non-farm payroll) was up by 8 cents at $25.09.
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