Jobs cuts in the U.S. continue into the fall, contributing to an already bleak outlook for the rest of 2008
I’m back from a brief hiatus from blogging with some not-so-lovely news to report: the U.S. cut an additional 159,000 jobs last month, bringing the total number of positions lost so far this year to 760,000. I know, I could have picked a better time (or news story) to update OCG’s blog with, but I’m only stating the truth.
The monthly employment situation report was released by the BLS on Friday morning, and it’s been close to half a decade since the country’s seen a job loss this large in one month. Not exactly great news, but at least the U.S. government is beginning to address issues that have been mounting since late last year. The unemployment rate, which rose drastically in August, remained unchanged at 6.1 percent in September.
Industries that felt the largest hits this past month were typical offenders construction (-35,000 jobs) and manufacturing (-51,000 positions). The residential construction sectors have undergone significant losses in 2008; while motor vehicles and parts (-18,000), fabricated metals (-7,000), wood products (-5,000), and furniture and related products (-5,000) were the biggest problems areas in the manufacturing industry in September.
The retail trade sector also lost 40,000 jobs over the course of last month. Department stores cut 11,000 positions and motor vehicle and parts dealers declined by 10,000. The retail industry has lost a quater of a million positions since September of 2007. Other contributors to the job deficit from this September were transportation and warehousing (-16,000 jobs), financial activities (-17,000 jobs), professional and business services (-27,000), and leisure and hospitality (-17,000). The effects of the slow down in our economy are clearly being felt across the board.
The health care industry posted a gain in jobs in September, but the total number of positions added — at 17,000 — was a noticeable drop in the sector’s usual activity. Government and mining also added jobs; 9,000 and 8,000, respectively. Average earnings for U.S. workers increased by three cents over the month as well, bringing the average hourly rate in our nation to $18.17.