The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) monthly report was released today for the month of July. The total non farm payroll employment rose by 943,000 people. This increase follows an 850,000 increase in June. While the unemployment rate is 5.4% that number has dropped dramatically from the 6.7% rate at the beginning of the year.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) decreased by 560,000 in July to 3.4 million but is 2.3 million higher than in February 2020.
In July, the number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job was 6.5 million the report says.
In July, notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, in local government education, and in professional and business services.
The contradictory information in the report causes many people to question its value. My nearby restaurants have large signs seen from the street inviting people to apply for jobs as cooks, servers and other duties. My favorite barbeque restaurant provides take out only because they cannot find sufficient help. The IHOP restaurants near me are all short of help. Perhaps the message is “we don’t want to work for you on the starvation wage you pay. We have managed to get along without those crummy demanding jobs.”
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