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August 4, 2006
New York - The US unemployment rate rose to 4.8 percent while July payroll figures were below economists forecasts, according the latest report by the US Department of Labor.
US employers only created 113,000 new jobs in July, compared to revised figures for June of 124,000. Economists had forecast 144,000 jobs would be added to US payrolls in July, far more than the Labor Department report showed.
The nation's unemployment rate rose to 4.8 percent in July with 7.2 million Americans unemployed, a 5-month high. But even though that figure was higher than the 4.6 percent unemployment rate reported earlier, it was still less than the jobless rate a year ago when unemployment reached 5 percent with 7.5 million persons unemployed.
Economists had expected the unemployment rate to hold at 4.6 percent for the third month in a row.
For the second quarter, the average gain in payrolls was the lowest since July through September 2003.
The average hourly wage rose by 7 cents in July, or 0.4%, the second month in a row hourly wages rose. The average workweek rose marginally by 0.2% from 33.9 hours to 41.5 hours while overtime fell 0.1% to 4.5 hours. Over the 12 months ending in July, average hourly earnings have risen by 3.8 percent.
Manufacturing employment edged down in July (-15,000); the decrease largely offset a gain in June. In July, job losses in transportation equipment (-9,000), computer and electronic products (-8,000), and textile mills (-2,000) more than offset employment increases in machinery (+8,000) and chemicals (+4,000), the Labor Department said.
In the service-providing sector, employment in professional and business services rose by 43,000 over the month.
Employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 42,000 in July, mainly due to continued job growth in food services and drinking places (+29,000). Health care employment also continued on an upward trend, with an increase of 23,000. Job gains occurred in hospitals and in nursing and residential care facilities.
The number of jobs in retail trade was unchanged in July; employment in general merchandise stores declined by 8,000 over the month and has fallen by 74,000 since August 2005. Wholesale trade employment, which generally has been expanding since the summer of 2003, held steady in July.
In the goods-producing sector of the economy, employment in mining continued to trend upward in July (+8,000), largely because of continued job growth in oil and gas extraction and in related support activities. Construction employment was little changed for the fifth month in a row; over the period, job growth in nonresidential construction has been offset by job losses in residential and heavy construction.
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