US Labor Market Is In Balance

August's employment report was released this morning. It was weaker than expected. The month's payrolls rose by just 22,000. June's number was revised down by 27,000 to a decline of 13,000, while July's number was revised up by 6,000 to 79,000. August's big losers were goods producers (-25,000), professional & business services (-17,000, with temporary help services down 9,800), and government (-16,000) (chart).

Yet, the unemployment rate edged up only slightly from 4.2% in July to 4.3% last month, suggesting that the labor market remains at full employment. The unemployment rates for workers aged 25 years or more remained relatively unchanged below 4.0% (chart). The jobless rate for teens fell to 13.9%, while it increased to 9.2% for workers aged 20 to 24. It is getting tougher for college graduates to find jobs.