National Employment Unchanged in August

This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics released national August employment data. Unfortunately, August brought no change, as the unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent, and nonfarm payroll employment was flat nationwide.

There are some more interesting events behind these numbers. Temporary government layoffs and a strike impacted the numbers. The return of Minnesota state workers in August after a government shutdown in July added 22,000 jobs to the over-the-month change, while a strike by Verizon workers dropped employment by roughly 45,000 jobs. In effect, these events made the August numbers lower than they otherwise would have been. Despite these impacts, the report still shows just how little growth we've had in the past few months. Over-the-month employment gains for June and July were revised down from the original estimates.

Get more information about national nonfarm payroll employment by industry and unemployment from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' full monthly Employment Situation news release.