MONEY MATTERS

It is a worrying news for the Obama government, as it heads towards November Congressional elections, that the total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 131,000 in July and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.5%, the Unite States Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) has reported. The BLS added that federal government employment dropped sharply, as 143,000 temporary workers recruited for the decennial census completed their work. Private sector payroll employment, crept up by 71,000.

After the Wall Street reform bill was passed last month, the White House has sought to bring job creation to the top of its agenda, but the July unemployment numbers suggested improvements in job market conditions had flatlined. The number of those jobless for 27 weeks and over was little changed at 6.6 million and the numbers of those employed part-time for economic reasons was essentially unchanged over the month at 8.5 million. Manufacturing employment was one of the few areas that showed an uptick, with job numbers increasing by 36,000 over July. There was more bad news for employment in financial activities, which continued to show a negative trend in July. Jobs in this sector declined by 17,000, bringing the average monthly job loss figure in the industry to 12,000. Employment in other private sector industries, including wholesale trade, retail trade, information, and leisure and hospitality showed little change in July.

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