WASHINGTON — In a broadly disappointing economic report, U.S. employers added a smaller-than-expected 96,000 jobs in August as manufacturers cut back their payrolls and government continued to shed workers. Moreover, the Labor Department revised lower the job-growth numbers estimated for July and June.
The Labor Department said the jobless rate dropped over the month, to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July, but that came as many people dropped out of the labor market. In a nation where the population is growing, a shrinking labor force suggests that many workers are giving up job searches because they are striking out in the employment market or don’t see good prospects.
The share of workers and unemployed people who are seeking work out of the total population—or the labor force participation rate—dropped to a 30-year low of 63.5 percent in August. Average hourly earnings also dipped over the month, the Labor Department said.
The report, coming on the morning after President Obama’s nomination acceptance speech, was bad news for Obama and his supporters, who spent a considerable amount of energy during this week’s Democratic National Convention defending the president’s economic record and pushing back against Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s criticisms that the administration’s economic policies have failed.
The report also deflated hopes that had risen in recent days that the economy was recapturing momentum that was lost in the spring. Many analysts were expecting job growth of 125,000 in August, and some were looking for stronger numbers in the wake of a private survey that suggested private-sector job growth of about 200,000.
The Labor Department on Friday revised downward job growth in July, to 141,000 from 163,000 initially estimated, and it said employers added 45,000 jobs in June, not 64,000 as previously reported.
Taking the last three months together, the economy added an average of 94,000 jobs a month. That’s not enough to absorb new workers entering the labor force and is down from an average of 226,000 in the first quarter of this year.
He spent half his time last night telling us how many jobs he’s created and how the economy is on it’s way back with all kinds of new hiring. 24 hours later, poof, the fantasy is over and we’re back to reality. The reality of having a President spending trillions on failed plans. Haven’t we already struggled through his 2 year plan, his four year plan, and “oh by the way”, he now wants another 4 years to work his plan. If he gets another four years I’m not sure we’ll ever fully recover form it. We’ve never had a more inept president in my lifetime – not even Jimmy Carter.
LePage for president in 2016! (Did that just to hear the libs whine!)
because nearly 100,000 jobs created is way better then 700,000 jobs lots. neocon extremist in congress have blocked a job creating bill that would have put 1 million people to work because they care more about obama not having a job then people having jobs.
Senator Harry Reid is the only person in the congress who has blocked jobs bills, a workable budget & any significant legislation that might help our country and those just crying for a job.
Although I wish the jobs figure was higher I am disappointed again with the news media. 90,000 jobs vs. a loss of 800,000 a month. That is almost a million jobs a month difference and the news media reports the gain negatively. Imagine what these figures would be if the Republicans cared about working people.
Your last sentence merely taints the rest of your post as equally ridiculous. if you don’t want to indicate that, strike the last attempts at “humor” (or troll baiting).
When they knew they couldn’t “create” jobs,
Obama changed the theme to create and SAVE
jobs. Now it is back to he CREATED 4M jobs?’
I think he counted the unemployment extensions
as creating jobs after all, Pelosi and the dems said
this was the greatest thing for the economy.
More evidence of obama’s ‘bold, persistent experimentation’ gone awry. I don’t know about you but being a president’s lab rat while he experiments with this country’s sovereignty isn’t my idea of a good time. This isn’t the good ‘ol Choom Gang days where experimentation was the daily routine, this is a nation’s struggle to thrive & obama is screwing it up big time. Time for barry o to go.
Looks like those huge tax breaks to the “job creators” is paying off in spades. Oh, were we talking about the jobs created in COMMUNIST China or China, Maine?
His healthcare reform will backfire too. Overloaded ER’s, not enough docs and nurses, beaurcracy galore with insurance. I work for a company that makes 70% gross margins and we just layed off 300 people last week and these are VP’s, directors and other managment levels. For what reason? Pelosi and BO and Reid’s hidden excise tax on that will cost us $60M a year. How many other companies will be doing the same thing. The fall out has already started.
Why is it the President and His Minions are allowed, by the mainstream media, to continue to spout off that the Great Recession is a result of Capitalism and Free Market policy going back to Ronald Reagan?
When, the Real Cause is Liberal Policies that encouraged people to purchase homes that were out of their income ranges (Fannie and Freddie bankrolling these purchases). The Other Cause was the steep rise of Petroleum Products that pushed homeowners that were just barely making their finacial commitments over the edge; again due to Liberal Policies that prevent businesses from producing all forms of energy cheaply (when was the last hyrdo-electric dam built, the Big A would have been a benefit not just for the Great Northern but also for all the blue collar workers drawing above average wages).
Energy is the driving force of economics: The Energy of the workers in a business, which causes great production: The Energy of the workers’ minds in thinking up new innovations: The Energy from the environment to aid in production.
North Dakota and Canada economies are booming because they are using and producing from their Energy Resources.
For you out there that think Free Market Capitalism does not work I ask you: How come Cuba and North Korea are not leaders in the world economy? Also, why is it the Soviet Bloc of nations and China have changed to a Free Market Based economy?
You are so right.
Socialism has never worked. Whenever a government tries to take away freedoms from people, it is destined to fail. Obama has tried to take more control of health care, insurance, banking, the auto industry, the home mortgage industry and the energy industry. Not only do the Dems believe people rely on government to succeed, they want people to depend on the government to survive.
If you want medical attention, you see someone schooled & experienced in medicine. If you have a toothache, you see a dentist not a grocer. Seems only sensible to me that in these disastrous economic times, we just might want a president who has a successful business background as opposed to a community organizing background.