More Bad News from the Labor Front

BLS reports:

The unemployment rate rose from 5.7 to 6.1 percent in August, and non-farm payroll employment continued to trend down (-84,000)

The household survey indicated a 342,000 decline in employment, which led to:

The employment-population ratio fell over the month to 62.1 percent in August, down 1.3 percentage points from its most recent high of 63.4 percent in December 2006.

This 62.1 percent employment-population ratio for August compares to a 62.4 percent ratio for July and explains the jump in the unemployment rate since the labor force participation rate was unchanged. It also represents the lowest level since September 2003.

Even before this bad news, David Altig was presenting employment data that would suggest we are in a recession. As Spencer notes – Team McCain is shying away from this issue.

Update: pgl…” Well we must have a lot of traffic with the number of comments here approaching 90 but it’s odd that none of them address the employment report for August, which was what this post was about”

(rdan here….sorry to grab the post pgl, but something is going on that is very different, and will stop. The currents of irrelevant comments is across the spectrum it would seem, with the ‘lefties’ starting this one. Except gang members have no political cover and will simply be considered threadbreakers. If anyone on either side of the divide respects Angry Bear, please just duck the off topics. Order gets restored this weekend.)

(Open thread is cancelled today because I will not waste a Friday evening monitoring food fights. Since this is a group practice we will take a day or two and solve the problem. To regular readers my apologies…the format will work, just growing pains from attentive desparadoes)