Record of 157,878,000 people employed in August; Record unemployment rate for blacks

(CNSNews.com) – The number of people employed in the United States reached a record high of 157,878,000 in August, the 21st record of President Donald Trump, according to the Jobs Report released today. by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This represents an increase of 590,000 from the record number of 157,228,000 people employed in July.

The unemployment rate remained stable at 3.7%. For blacks, the unemployment rate fell to a record 5.5% last month. And for Hispanics, the unemployment rate was 4.2% in August, which is equal to the record level reached earlier this year.

In August, the non-institutional civilian population in the United States was 259,432,000. This included all persons 16 years of age and over who did not live in an institution (such as a prison, retirement home or long-term care hospital). Of this non-institutional civilian population, 163,922,000 were in the labor market, which means that they had a job or were actively looking for one in the last month.

This pushed up the rate of activity to 63.2%, which is Trump's peak in January and February. This represents a gain of 0.2% from 63.0% in July.

Of the 163,922,000 active members of the labor force, 6,044,000 were unemployed, placing the unemployment rate at 3.7% for a third consecutive month.

According to BLS, among the major groups of workers, unemployment rates for adult men (3.4%), adult women (3.3%), adolescents (12.6%), whites (3.4%) ), Blacks (5.5%), Asians (2.8%) and Hispanics (4.2%) showed little or no change in August, although – as noted above – Blacks and Hispanics have never been so good.

The economy added 130,000 jobs in August, boosted by job growth in the federal government, largely reflecting hiring temporary workers for the 2020 census, BLS said. . Significant employment gains were also recorded in the areas of health care and financial activities.

The change in total non-farm payroll employment for June was revised downwards from 15,000 to +178,000, and from July to July the decline from 5,000 to +159,000. With these revisions, Job gains in June and July combined were 20,000 lower than previously reported.

After revisions, employment gains averaged 156,000 per month over the last three months.

According to an August 21 update from the Congressional Budget Office:

The strong demand for goods and services in recent years has stimulated the demand for labor and led to a steady improvement in the labor market situation.

The labor market continued its momentum of 2018 in the first half of 2019 and is expected to continue to grow at a steady pace, albeit at a slower pace, in the coming years.

According to CBO forecasts, the average unemployment rate is 3.7% in 2019 and 2020, then increases steadily to 4.6% by the end of 2023, as output growth slows. Employment has exceeded its potential or maximum sustainable level in 2018 and is expected to remain above its potential level over the 2019-2023 period.

The active participation rate of very active older workers (aged 25 to 54) has rebounded since 2015, adding about 1.5 million workers to the labor force and offsetting the downward pressure on the rate of activity by the retirement of baby boomers born between 1945 and 1960). The labor force activity rate is expected to remain stable until 2020 before declining gradually to reach its long-term trend.

Wage growth has accelerated and has become widespread in recent years, with low wages recording particularly large increases in hourly wages. According to CBO forecasts, wage growth will accelerate further before slowing down in 2021.