by Calculated Risk on 8/05/2011 08:30:00 AM
Friday, August 05, 2011
July Employment Report: 117,000 Jobs, 9.1% Unemployment Rate
From MarketWatch: U.S. economy gained 117,000 jobs in July
The U.S. economy added 117,000 jobs in July and an even larger 154,000 in the private sector while the unemployment rate fell to 9.1% from 9.2%, partly because 193,000 people dropped out of the labor force, according to the latest government data. Job gains in May and June were also revised up by a combined 56,000, the Labor Department reported Friday. Average hourly wages rose 10 cents, or 0.4%, to $23.13. The workweek was unchanged at 34.3 hours.
![Employment Pop Ratio, participation and unemployment rates](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixRjZWlG-jaVs9G8k7nWsY2j77ZmgUbGR28gbopXwpfNkC84MQ72zZLVDIyuxNqoSMQwauJeQOaTzBzM2t1Lx_H4VMF0syMtLyih1diE3kOBBd3ulTcHjU6E-nMuCpgV4wpHQVPg/s320/UnemployJuly2011.jpg)
This graph shows the unemployment rate.
The unemployment rate decreased to 9.1%.
Note: The BLS website crashed - I'll add the Participation rate and Employment to population ratio soon.
![Percent Job Losses During Recessions](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgC4hEqpoXI0DpLhPzfTq6cy8nB6j8jx0Ns5J9yfbpp-3kR1FJ3YvepMPgm10smj_g_ldKMNtSExvFf-ki0hB_nHmxnfCTGb0_lmNyb8slLTfQdDoaFdACy1Ofo0FGqL71kk2QoA/s320/EmployRessJuly2011.jpg)
The current employment recession is by far the worst recession since WWII in percentage terms, and 2nd worst in terms of the unemployment rate (only the early '80s recession with a peak of 10.8 percent was worse).
This was still weak, but better than expectations for payroll jobs, and the unemployment rate. The 154,000 private sector jobs - and 56,000 in upward revisions to May and June are improvements. I'll have much more soon ...