- U.S. added 163,000 jobs in July; unemployment rate ticks up to 8.3 percent, By Peter Whoriskey, August 3, 2012, Washington Post: “The U.S. economy added more jobs in July, but the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3 percent, the Labor Department reported. The monthly jobs figures released on Friday offered both good and bad news. On the one hand, payrolls expanded by 163,000 people, a promising rise after three straight months of disappointing job gains. Jobs in manufacturing rose by 25,000; there were 9,000 fewer jobs in government. “It would appear that the slow patch we’ve had since April is over,” Gus Faucher, senior macro economist at PNC Financial Services Group, said before the release of the numbers. . .”
- A Tale of 2 US Employment Surveys, at a Glance, By the Associated Press, August 3, 2012, ABC News: “The U.S. economy added 163,000 jobs in July. Yet the unemployment rate rose to 8.3 percent. Why didn’t the increase in jobs lower the unemployment rate? Because the government does one survey to learn how many jobs were created and another survey to determine the unemployment rate. Those surveys can produce results that sometimes seem to conflict. One is called the payroll survey. It asks mostly large companies and government agencies how many people they employed during the month. This survey produces the number of jobs gained or lost. In July, the payroll survey showed that companies added 172,000 jobs, and federal, state and local governments cut 9,000. . .”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty