On-Money

The unemployment rate rose to 5.7%, and payroll employment (ex farm labour) continued to drop in July (-51,000), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Employment continued to fall in construction, manufacturing, and several service-providing industries, while health care and mining continued to add jobs.

Statistics

Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents, or 0.3%, over the month. Both the number of unemployed persons (8.8 million) and the unemployment rate (5.7%) rose in July. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 1.6 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 1.0%.

Over the month, the unemployment rates for adult men (5.3%) and whites (5.1%) edged up while the rates for adult women (4.6%), blacks (9.7%), and Hispanics (7.4%) were little changed. The jobless rate for teenagers increased to 20.3% in July.

The unemployment rate for Asians was 4.0% in July. Among the unemployed, the number of reentrants to the labor force in July rose by 207,000 to 2.7 million. This number has increased by 623,000 over the past 12 months.

The number of unemployed (ex-workers) stayed steady in July at 4.4 million, but rose by 778,000 over the year. The civilian labor force, at 154.6 million, was little changed in July, and the labor force participation rate remained at 66.1%.

Total employment, at 145.8 million, was about the same as in June. The employment-population ratio, at 62.4% in July, was the same as in June 2008 but was down from its most recent high of 63.4% in December 2006.

In July, the number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons rose by 308,000 to 5.7 million and has risen by 1.4 million over the past 12 months.

Declines Across Industry

Over the month, employment continued to decline in manufacturing, construction, employment services, wholesale trade, and the information industry.

Construction shed 557,000 jobs since its September 2006 employment peak, with almost 75% of the decline occuring since October 2007.

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The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling today insisted that the UK economy was facing “unique pressures” from the credit crunch plus the rise in oil and food prices, as he attempted to clarify his appraisal that the global economic conditions were the worst for 60 years.

In a television interview to explain his comments made in a newspaper earlier this week about the grave state of the economy, the chancellor said the government had to help people. “We are facing a profound economic downturn along with every other country in the world,” Darling said.

“The difference is between us and previous governments is that we are taking action to help people – whether it is rescuing Northern Rock, or helping people to get back into work as they lose their jobs, or tax rebates which are due at the end of September.”

Darling insisted that the government would “help” people hit by the crisis, and played down rumours of tension with senior ministers.

“All my colleagues, the prime minister, every single one of us, are focused on one single thing – that is helping people, helping the economy go through what is a very difficult time. “

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Sales figures for July of pre-owned houses showed a 3.1% increase in July 2008.  This is attributed to a 7% drop in median house prices to $212,000 (UK £114,439), as a consequence of the US sub-prime crisis.

In the same period, over 272,000 people in the US received notice of foreclosure, a rise of 55% on July 2007 according to analysts Realtytrac. The US Government has introduced new measures to try and help home owners from losing their property.

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Charles Bean, the Bank of England’s deputy governor warned that the downturn was as bad as in the 1970s and that everytime things looked up as if they were going to improve, a setback occurred. At Christmas 2007 he said that he had thought that things were past the worst but since then things had deteriorated.

He predicts that if the oil prices stabilised, along with credit markets then growth should pick up and inflation start to fall. And he suggested that the current UK standstill in growth was only temporary.

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