Zero New Jobs Added For August

The U.S. employment situation is looking progressively worse each month as the latest job figures come rolling in. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that zero new jobs were added for the month of August, and that actual employment numbers for June and July were netted downwards after closer revisions. The U.S. unemployment rate remains at a stagnant 9.1 percent.

In response, Wall Street took a significant tumble – the sight of the recent job figures compounded with the U.S. Government’s decision to sue big banks over mortgage securities was enough to send investor confidence plummeting. Stocks dropped more than 2 percent on Friday.

The unemployment rate has only seen minor change since April, stirring fears that a second recession may be imminent. Last month, a measly 17,000 job were added in the private sector but the gains were completely offset by a wave of government cut backs. A massive strike involving 45,000 workers at Verizon, the broadband and telecom giant, also adversely affected last month’s employment numbers.

“Employment in most major industries changed little over the month, The B.L.S. said in a recent press release. “ Health care continued to add jobs, and a decline in information employment reflected a strike. Government employment continued to trend down, despite the return of workers from a partial government shutdown in Minnesota.”

“Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (8.9 percent), adult women (8.0 percent), teenagers (25.4 percent), whites (8.0 percent), blacks (16.7 percent), and Hispanics (11.3 percent) showed little or no change in August. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.1 percent, not seasonally adjusted.”