Saturday, August 05, 2006

Jobs Report from the Labor Department


The Labor Department said 113,000 jobs were created last month, less than the 145,000 expected by economists.

Averaged over the past four months, payrolls have risen by 112,000 a month – well below the 150,000 economists use as a rule of thumb for the pace needed to absorb new entrants to the workforce. Unemployment, which is calculated from a different survey, unexpectedly rose from 4.6 per cent to 4.8 per cent last month – its highest level this year.

Private employment improved and manufacturing hours worked rose even as overtime fell, suggesting healthy production rates.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.4 per cent, more than the 0.3 per cent expected, for an annual rate of 3.8 per cent.

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