Here are some stats that show the exact opposite of what Harmless Rabbit posted. Note I used a real source, not a secondary article to pursue an agenda.
Notice unemployment is LOWERING. Not rising as HR's post claimed.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
Technical information:
Household data: (202) 691-6378 USDL 03-523
http://www.bls.gov/cps/
Establishment data: 691-6555 Transmission of material in this release is
http://www.bls.gov/ces/ embargoed until 8:30 A.M. (EDT),
Media contact: 691-5902 Friday, October 3, 2003.
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: SEPTEMBER 2003
The unemployment rate remained at 6.1 percent in September, and total
nonfarm payroll employment was little changed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The number of jobs in manu-
facturing declined at a slower pace than in recent months, while employment
in temporary help services continued to trend upward.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
The number of unemployed persons, 9.0 million, was about unchanged in
September, and the unemployment rate was 6.1 percent, the same as in August.
Unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (5.7 percent),
adult women (5.3 percent), teenagers (17.5 percent), whites (5.3 percent),
blacks (11.2 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (7.5 percent)--were little
changed in September. The unemployment rate for Asians was 6.2 percent,
not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
In September, there were 2.1 million unemployed persons who had been
looking for work for 27 weeks or longer, representing 23.2 percent of the
total unemployed. Since November 2001, the proportion of long-term unem-
ployed has increased by about 9 percentage points. (See table A-9.)
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
Both total employment (137.6 million) and the employment-population
ratio (62.0 percent) were about unchanged in September. The employment-
population ratio was down by 1.0 percentage point over the year. Both the
civilian labor force, 146.5 million, and the labor force participation
rate, 66.1 percent, also were little changed in September. (See table
A-1.)
The number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons rose
in September to 5.0 million, seasonally adjusted. These persons indicated
that they would like to work full time but worked part time because their
hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time
job. The total number of persons at work part time, including both the
economic and noneconomic categories, was essentially unchanged at 24.0
million. (See table A-5.)
Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
In September, 1.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor
force, about the same as a year earlier. (Data are not seasonally adjusted.)
These individuals wanted and were available to work and had looked for a job
sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed, how-
ever, because they did not actively search for work in the 4 weeks preceding
the survey. Of the 1.5 million, 388,000 were discouraged workers--persons
who were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed
no jobs were available for them. The number of discouraged workers in
September was about the same as a year earlier. The other 1.2 million
marginally attached had not searched for work because they were in school
or had family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)
- 2 -
Table A. Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
______________________________________________________________________________
| Quarterly | |
| averages | Monthly data |
|_________________|__________________________| Aug.-
Category | 2003 | 2003 | Sept.
|_________________|__________________________| change
| II | III | July | Aug. | Sept. |
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
HOUSEHOLD DATA | Labor force status
|____________________________________________________
Civilian labor force.....| 146,685| 146,539| 146,540| 146,530| 146,545| 15
Employment.............| 137,638| 137,559| 137,478| 137,625| 137,573| -52
Unemployment...........| 9,047| 8,980| 9,062| 8,905| 8,973| 68
Not in labor force.......| 74,090| 74,974| 74,712| 74,977| 75,234| 257
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Unemployment rates
|____________________________________________________
All workers..............| 6.2| 6.1| 6.2| 6.1| 6.1| 0.0
Adult men..............| 5.9| 5.8| 5.9| 5.8| 5.7| -.1
Adult women............| 5.1| 5.2| 5.2| 5.2| 5.3| .1
Teenagers..............| 18.6| 17.5| 18.4| 16.6| 17.5| .9
White..................| 5.4| 5.4| 5.5| 5.4| 5.3| -.1
Black or African | | | | | |
American.............| 11.2| 11.1| 11.1| 10.9| 11.2| .3
Hispanic or Latino | | | | | |
ethnicity............| 8.0| 7.8| 8.2| 7.8| 7.5| -.3
|________|________|________|________|________________
ESTABLISHMENT DATA | Employment
|____________________________________________________
Nonfarm employment.......| 129,984|p129,838| 129,846|p129,805|p129,862| p57
Goods-producing 1/.....| 22,093| p21,976| 22,001| p21,972| p21,955| p-17
Construction.........| 6,782| p6,821| 6,804| p6,823| p6,837| p14
Manufacturing........| 14,744| p14,591| 14,631| p14,585| p14,556| p-29
Service-providing 1/...| 107,891|p107,862| 107,845|p107,833|p107,907| p74
Retail trade.........| 14,981| p14,962| 14,958| p14,959| p14,969| p10
Professional and | | | | | |
business services..| 15,999| p16,082| 16,063| p16,058| p16,124| p66
Education and health | | | | | |
services...........| 16,498| p16,507| 16,487| p16,512| p16,521| p9
Leisure and | | | | | |
hospitality........| 12,036| p12,048| 12,051| p12,048| p12,045| p-3
Government...........| 21,495| p21,452| 21,458| p21,456| p21,441| p-15
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Hours of work 2/
|____________________________________________________
Total private............| 33.7| p33.7| 33.6| p33.7| p33.7| p0.0
Manufacturing..........| 40.2| p40.2| 40.1| p40.2| p40.4| p.2
Overtime.............| 4.0| p4.1| 4.1| p4.0| p4.2| p.2
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Indexes of aggregate weekly hours (2002=100) 2/
|____________________________________________________
| 98.7| p98.5| 98.3| p98.6| p98.6| p0.0
Total private............|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Earnings 2/
|____________________________________________________
Avg. hourly earnings, | | | | | |
total private..........| $15.34| p$15.45| $15.43| p$15.46| p$15.45|p-$0.01
Avg. weekly earnings, | | | | | |
total private..........| 517.07| p520.04| 518.45| p521.00| p520.67| p-.33
_________________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
1 Includes other industries, not shown separately.
2 Data relate to private production or nonsupervisory workers.
p=preliminary.
- 3 -
Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)
Total nonfarm payroll employment was little changed (+57,000) in
September at 129.9 million. Over the month, manufacturing job losses
continued, although at a slower pace. Professional and business services
added jobs, as temporary help employment increased for the fifth consecu-
tive month. (See table B-1.)
Manufacturing employment decreased by 29,000 in September. Although
small declines occurred throughout most of the sector, September's loss was
below the average for the prior 12 months (-54,000). Most of the easing in
September occurred among durable goods industries.
Professional and business services added 66,000 jobs in September; half
of the gain occurred in temporary help services. Since April, temporary
help has added 147,000 jobs. Architectural and engineering services
employment increased by 9,000 in September.
Health care and social assistance had a small employment increase over
the month (15,000). Job gains in this industry averaged 23,000 a month
during the first half of this year, compared with a monthly average of
13,000 since June.
Within transportation and warehousing, air transportation added 3,000
jobs in September. Employment in retail trade was little changed; however,
employment increased in two of its component industries--motor vehicle and
parts dealers (8,000) and building material and garden supply stores
(7,000).
Construction employment continued to trend up. Since February, the
industry has added 137,000 jobs, with most of the gains among special trade
contractors.
Employment in financial activities remains on an upward trend, though at
a reduced pace. For the past 4 months, job gains have averaged about 5,000
per month, compared with 16,000 per month from August 2002 to May 2003.
Employment in government was little changed over the month. Seasonal
hiring was weak in local education, and, after seasonal adjustment,
employment decreased by 44,000 in September. However, the decline was
partially offset by a gain of 17,000 jobs in local government, excluding
education.
Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)
The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls was unchanged over the month at 33.7 hours, seasonally
adjusted. The manufacturing workweek increased by 0.2 hour in September
to 40.4 hours, seasonally adjusted. Manufacturing overtime also rose by
0.2 hour to 4.2 hours. (See table B-2.)
The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory
workers on private nonfarm payrolls held at 98.6 in September (2002=100).
The manufacturing index increased by 0.2 percent over the month to 94.2.
(See table B-5.)
- 4 -
Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)
Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls were down by 1 cent over the month to $15.45, seasonally
adjusted. Average weekly earnings were down by 0.1 percent in September to
$520.67. Over the year, average hourly earnings grew by 2.7 percent and
average weekly earnings increased by 2.1 percent. (See table B-3.)
______________________________
The Employment Situation for October 2003 is scheduled to be released on
Friday, November 7, at 8:30 A.M. (EST).