Unemployment Inching Downward, Economic Outlook Looking Up

Posted on | August 7, 2009 | No Comments

Good news!  According to today’s jobs report from the Department of Labor, the unemployment rate is inching downward for the first time in 15 months.  The unemployment rates for July was 9.4%, down from 9.5% in June.  The economy lost 247,000 jobs, and there are now 14.5 million people unemployed.  But, the layoffs appear to have slowed, wages and hours edged up for the month, and that gives me great hope that the recession may finally be breaking (OK, don’t go out and buy anything crazy just yet).

The rest of the Labor report was fairly predictable–unemployment still highest among minorities, teens and men; the construction and manufacturing industry were loss leaders; and the number of long-term unemployed people grew.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the July jobs report.

Average Duration of Unemployment: 25.1 weeks

Number of Involuntary Part-time Workers: 8.8 million (and holding)

Unemployment Rate By Demographic

• Women 7.5%
• Asians 8.3%
• Whites 8.6%
• Men 9.8%
• Hispanics 12.3%
• Blacks 14.5%
• Teens (16-19) 23.8%

Biggest Job Gainers

• Health care +20,000
• Leisure & Hospitality +9,000
• Government +7,000

Biggest Job Losers

• Construction -76,000
• Manufacturing -52,000
• Retail -44,000
• Professional & Business Services -38,000
• Transportation & Warehousing -22,000

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