131,000 Jobs Lost in July

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/08/06/131000-jobs-lost-in-july/

by Tula Connell, Aug 6, 2010



Another 131,000 jobs were lost in July, and the U.S. unemployment rate remained at 9.5 percent, as in June. The new data out this morning from the Department of Labor reflects a lack of private-sector hiring and large numbers of jobless workers returning to the market. Private-sector hiring increased by 71,000 but was offset by the143,000 decrease in temporary federal Census employees who completed their work. The unemployment rate was unchanged only because another 181,000 workers left the labor force.

The number of people who are underemployed, which includes those who are too discouraged to look for work or are working part time out of economic necessity, is 16.5 percent. Some 26 million U.S. workers are without jobs or full-time work

Manufacturing employment increased by 36,000, health care by 27,000 jobs and mining by 7,000. Construction employment decreased by 11,000, with 10,000 out due to strikes. People of color continue to suffer disproportionately, with 15.6 percent of black workers unemployed and 12.1 percent of Latino workers jobless.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said today the economic recovery “is still far too weak to power the job growth we need to offset the almost 8 million jobs lost since the recession began.”

Meanwhile, 14.6 million workers are formally unemployed, and nearly half of them have been unemployed for more than 26 weeks. Yet every effort to dig us out of our 10.5 million jobs hole has faced enormous opposition from Republicans who choose to vote against good jobs and working people for cheap political points. This is inexcusable.

Economists say if monthly private-sector employment gains are 50,000 or fewer, it’s an alarming sign of a weakening economy. Unless employment growth is considerably faster now than in the recoveries from the two most recent recessions in 1990 and 2001, economists project that the nation may not reach pre-recession levels of unemployment until August 2015. As the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) puts it:

The much slower rate of growth seen in recent months suggests that without additional policy action, unemployment will remain high for years to come.

FULL story at link.