Job Numbers Remain Depressed

Headlines over the weekend suggested that economists were stunned by US Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing that job growth in July was nominal ... and that June numbers were revised downward -- a process that has become predictable.

Private employment for June was revised downward to a seasonally-adjusted 78,000. July's preliminary figure was 109,743,000 -- an increase of only 32,000, not the predicted 243,000. That's quite a shortfall, plus the economy needs to add about 150,000 jobs each month for employment to remain stable.

Wage data in the private sector do not look much better.

Seasonally adjusted weekly private sector wages, in 1982 dollars, was $275.45 in July; compare that with January 2001, when President Bush took office: $274.64. The increase is less than a dollar or 0.29 percent.

Why use "real" (inflation adjusted) dollars? Because raw data do not reflect purchasing power.

Government employment, on the other hand, continued to be the savior of the unemployed worker looking for a job.

In January 2001, there were 20,828,000 of us working for various forms of government in America. In June 2004, that number was up to 21,529,000 -- a 3.37 percent increase.

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read More