by Calculated Risk on 9/02/2005 09:54:00 AM

From the AP:

In Friday's report, U.S. employers added 169,000 jobs in August, reflecting increased employment in industries, including construction, professional and business services, health care and education, and financial activities. But manufacturers shed jobs for the third straight month, reflecting the industry's sometimes bumpy road to recovery from the 2001 recession.

Also encouraging was that payroll gains were revised up for both June and July. Employers in July added 242,000 jobs, an improvement from the government's initial estimate of 207,000 net job gains. For June, 175,000 jobs were added, up from a previous estimate of a 166,000 jobs gain.

The payroll gain of 169,000 reported for August was less than the 190,000 new jobs some economists were forecasting before the release of the report. Economists were predicting the unemployment would hold steady at July's 5 percent rate.

Professional and business services added 29,000 jobs in August. Financial companies added 15,000. Education and health services expanded employment by 43,000. Leisure and hospitality added 34,000 jobs. Retailers added close to 12,000 during the month. Construction companies boosted payrolls by 25,000.

But factories cut another 14,000 jobs in August. Auto makers accounted for the biggest chunk of those job losses.

The labor market is the one part of the economy that has had difficulty getting back to full throttle after the 2001 recession.

Jobseekers still face challenges. The report showed that the average time that the 7.4 million unemployed spent searching for work in August was 18.9 weeks, up from 17.6 weeks in July.

Those who do have jobs are seeing wages rising. Average weekly earnings climbed to $544.59 in August, up from $543.92 in July. The figures aren't adjusted for inflation.

Numbers are before the impact of Hurricane Katrina.

Bush's first term, with a net loss of 759K private sector jobs (a gain of 119K total jobs), has to be considered disappointing. For Bush's 2nd term, anything less than 6.8 Million net jobs will have to be considered poor. And anything above 10 million net jobs as excellent. Of course, in additional to the number of jobs, the quality of the jobs and real wage increases are also important measures.

For the quantity of jobs, the following graph provides a measurement tool for job growth during Bush's 2nd term.


Click on graph for larger image.

The blue line is for 10 million jobs created during Bush's 2nd term; the purple line for 6.8 million jobs. The insert shows net job creation for the first 7 months of the 2nd term - currently just below the blue line.