Virginia News Headlines: Friday Morning

Video: President Obama speaks in Leesburg (0.00 / 0)

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by: lowkell @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 11:01:01 AM UTC

+163,000 jobs in July, best # since February (0.00 / 0)

BLS statement:

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- JULY 2012

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 163,000 in July, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 8.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
today. Employment rose in professional and business services, food services and drinking places, and manufacturing.

Household Survey Data

Both the number of unemployed persons (12.8 million) and the unemployment rate (8.3 percent) were essentially unchanged in July. Both measures have shown little movement
thus far in 2012. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for Hispanics (10.3 percent) edged down in July, while the rates for adult men (7.7 percent), adult women (7.5 percent), teenagers (23.8 percent), whites (7.4 percent), and blacks (14.1 percent) showed little or no change. The jobless rate for Asians was 6.2 percent in July (not seasonally
adjusted), little changed from a year earlier. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

In July, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was little changed at 5.2 million. These individuals accounted for 40.7 percent of the
unemployed. (See table A-12.)

Both the civilian labor force participation rate, at 63.7 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 58.4 percent, changed little in July. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged at 8.2 million in July. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)

In July, 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down from 2.8 million a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were
not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 852,000 discouraged workers in July, a decline of 267,000 from a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.7 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in July had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 163,000 in July. Since the beginning of this year, employment growth has averaged 151,000 per month, about the same as the average
monthly gain of 153,000 in 2011. In July, employment rose in professional and business services, food services and drinking places, and manufacturing. (See table B-1.)

Employment in professional and business services increased by 49,000 in July. Computer systems design added 7,000 jobs, and employment in temporary help services continued
to trend up (+14,000).

Within leisure and hospitality, employment in food services and drinking places rose by 29,000 over the month and by 292,000 over the past 12 months.

Manufacturing employment rose in July (+25,000), with nearly all of the increase in durable goods manufacturing. Within durable goods, the motor vehicles and parts industry had fewer seasonal layoffs than is typical for July, contributing to a seasonally adjusted employment increase of 13,000. Employment continued to trend up in fabricated metal products (+5,000).

Employment continued to trend up in health care in July (+12,000), with over-the-month gains in outpatient care centers (+4,000) and in hospitals (+5,000). Employment also
continued to trend up in wholesale trade.

Utilities employment declined in July (-8,000). The decrease reflects 8,500 utility workers who were off payrolls due to a labor-management dispute.

Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, construction, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, and government, showed little or no change over the month.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.5 hours in July. Both the manufacturing workweek, at 40.7 hours, and factory overtime, at 3.2 hours, were unchanged over the month. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.7 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

In July, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 2 cents to $23.52. Over the year, average hourly earnings rose by 1.7 percent. In July, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 2 cents to $19.77.(See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for May was revised from +77,000 to +87,000, and the change for June was revised from +80,000 to +64,000.

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by: lowkell @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 12:48:20 PM UTC

Tim Kaine on "29 consecutive months of private sector job growth following 25 months of job losses" (0.00 / 0)

TIM KAINE STATEMENT ON JULY JOB GROWTH

Richmond, VA - Tim Kaine released the following statement regarding today's announcement that the U.S. economy added 163,000 jobs in July:

"While the 163,000 jobs created in July continues 29 consecutive months of private sector job growth following 25 months of job losses, as I talk with Virginians, it remains clear there is more to be done to put people back to work. Instead of partisan bickering, it is more important than ever that leaders in Washington work together on strategies to create jobs now and strengthen our economy. We cannot afford more of the same gridlock that causes economic instability and discourages businesses from expanding and hiring.

"Congress needs to immediately address the unacceptable sequestration cuts that will cost Virginia jobs and devastate critical investments in defense, education, and infrastructure. I continue to advocate a balanced approach to address our fiscal challenges, which includes making significant cuts but leaves room for investments in key priorities. Today, we can do more to level the playing field for small businesses to encourage them to grow and we can work to improve the roads, rail systems, and airports that support the movement of goods and services throughout the Commonwealth. But we also need long-term strategies that will allow us to invest in the development of a talented workforce to compete in the global marketplace.

"With so many Virginians still recovering, we cannot afford to return to the same economic policies that created the challenges we face. My opponent, George Allen, spent six years in the Senate fighting for special interests at the expense of the well-being of Virginia's families and supporting the reckless spending that created massive deficits and caused our national debt to skyrocket.  And instead of offering solutions to our fiscal challenges George Allen has said he would not even consider ten dollars in cuts for every dollar of revenue, a position that puts him out of step with even many in his own party. If we're going to get our economy moving again, we must put leaders in place who know how to reject the same old partisanship and come to the table. That's what I did as governor when I worked with Republicans to cut $5 billion in spending as we made critical investments for the future, and that's what I'll do if elected to the U.S. Senate."

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by: lowkell @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 15:43:31 PM UTC

Obama campaign statement (0.00 / 0)

There have now been 29 months of consecutive private sector job growth and we could do more today to create jobs if Mitt Romney and Republicans in Congress stopped obstructing the President's jobs plan to create one million jobs now and took immediate action to ensure taxes on middle class families don't go up. Governor Romney's plan for the middle class is nothing but a tax hike he would use to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires like himself - costing the average middle class family with children $2,000 a year. Rather than creating any jobs, the severe cuts in Romney's budget - which would impact things like education, research and development and infrastructure - would slow economic growth and could lead to another recession, according to independent economists. We were promised over the past decade that cutting taxes for the wealthiest would unleash job creation, but it led to the slowest pace of job creation we have seen since World War II. Americans have a choice:  we can continue to build the economy from the middle class out or return to the same top down economics that eroded security for the middle class.

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by: lowkell @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 15:45:04 PM UTC

Sensing a pattern here? (e.g., collapse under Republicans, recovery under Dems) (0.00 / 0)

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by: lowkell @ Fri Aug 03, 2012 at 15:49:04 PM UTC