Tough June jobs report for Obama: 9.2 percent jobless

Jobless rate up to 9.2 percent in June; President Obama comments on unemployment Friday morning. A poor economy–especially a lagging jobless rate–is one of the biggest threats to Obama’s 2012 re-election.

from the Department of Labor…..

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION — JUNE 2011

Nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged in June (+18,000), and the

unemployment rate was little changed at 9.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor

Statistics reported today. Employment in most major private-sector industries

changed little over the month. Government employment continued to trend down.

Household Survey Data

The number of unemployed persons (14.1 million) and the unemployment rate (9.2

percent) were essentially unchanged over the month. Since March, the number of

unemployed persons has increased by 545,000, and the unemployment rate has

risen by 0.4 percentage point. The labor force, at 153.4 million, changed

little over the month. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (9.1 percent),

adult women (8.0 percent), teenagers (24.5 percent), whites (8.1 percent), blacks

(16.2 percent), and Hispanics (11.6 percent) showed little or no change in June.

The jobless rate for Asians was 6.8 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables

A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

The number of persons unemployed for less than 5 weeks increased by 412,000 in

June. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over)

was essentially unchanged over the month, at 6.3 million, and accounted for 44.4

percent of the unemployed. (See table A-12.)

The civilian labor force participation rate was little changed in June at 64.1

percent. The employment-population ratio decreased by 0.2 percentage point to 58.2

percent. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred

to as involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged in June at 8.6

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. (See table A-8.)

In June, 2.7 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, about

the same as a year earlier. (These 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 982,000 discouraged workers in June,

down by 225,000 from a year earlier. (These 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 1.7 million persons

marginally attached to the labor force in June had not searched for work in the

4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family

responsibilities. (See table A-16.)

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged in June (+18,000).

Following gains averaging 215,000 per month from February through April,

employment has been essentially flat for the past 2 months. Employment in most

major private-sector industries changed little in June, while government

employment continued to trend down. (See table B-1.)

Within professional and business services, employment in professional and

technical services increased in June (+24,000). This industry has added 245,000

jobs since a recent low in March 2010. Employment in temporary help services

changed little over the month and has shown little movement on net so far this

year.

Health care employment continued to trend up in June (+14,000), with the largest

gain in ambulatory health care services. Over the prior 12 months, health care had

added an average of 24,000 jobs per month.

In June, employment in mining rose by 8,000, with most of the gain occurring in

support activities for mining. Employment in mining has increased by 128,000 since

a recent low in October 2009.

Employment in leisure and hospitality edged up (+34,000) in June and has grown by

279,000 since a recent low in January 2010.

Employment in government continued to trend down over the month (-39,000). Federal

employment declined by 14,000 in June. Employment in both state government and local

government continued to trend down over the month and has been falling since the

second half of 2008.

Manufacturing employment changed little in June. Following gains totaling 164,000

between November 2010 and April 2011, employment in this industry has been flat for

the past 2 months. In June, job gains in fabricated metal products (+8,000) were

partially offset by a loss in wood products (-5,000).

Construction employment was essentially unchanged in June. After having fallen

sharply during the 2007-09 period, employment in construction has shown little

movement on net since early 2010.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.1

hour to 34.3 hours in June. The manufacturing workweek for all employees decreased

by 0.3 hour to 40.3 hours over the month; factory overtime edged down by 0.1 hour

to 3.1 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on

private nonfarm payrolls remained at 33.6 hours in June. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

In June, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls

decreased by 1 cent to $22.99. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings

have increased by 1.9 percent. In June, average hourly earnings of private-sector

production and nonsupervisory employees declined by 1 cent to $19.41. (See tables

B-3 and B-8.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for April was revised from +232,000

to +217,000, and the change for May was revised from +54,000 to +25,000.

_____________

The Employment Situation for July is scheduled to be released on Friday, August 5,

2011, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).