• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2022
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Unemployment Ticks Up to 4.4% as Job Creation Slows to 156,000 and Wages Lag

September 1, 2017 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

august 2017 unemployment
Click on the graph for larger view. (© FlaglerLive)

It was not the sort of job-creation numbers analysts had been expecting after three straight months of 200,000 or more jobs created in April, June and July: in August, the number fell to 156,000, and figures for June and July were revised downward by a combined 40,000 jobs. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4 percent.


The numbers don’t bode well for September, a month that was expected to see the economic effects of Hurricane Harvey on Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city, which came to a standstill. Hurricanes are not kind on job creation: when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in August 2005, what had been the strongest year in job creation since 1999 came to a near halt, with September and October recording anemic job creation of 67,000 and 84,000 jobs. It picked up again strongly in November and for several months after that. Hurricane Andrew’s effects were just as dramatic in 1992: job creation fell to just 36,000 the month after it struck.

But for now, the economy continues to set records, posting its 83rd straight month of job gains, going back to September 2010, the last month when the economy shed jobs. So far this year, the economy has added 1.4 million net jobs, an average of 176,000 jobs a month–somewhat less than the average 187,000 jobs a month created in the last Obama year, but still healthy: on Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that the economy grew at an annual rate of 3 percent in the second quarter, revised from 2.6 percent in an earlier calculation. That’s the strongest three-month clip since the first quarter of 2015, when the economy grew by just over 3 percent.

Average hourly earnings, the more meaningful indication of economic gains for rank and file workers, rose by just 3 cents in August, to $26.39, after rising by 9 cents the previous month. A rise of 3 cents is not enough to keep up with the rising cost of living, let alone get ahead–or enhance one’s standard of living. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 65 cents, or 2.5 percent, just enough, or a shade better, to keep up with cost of living increases.

“Nominal wage growth is steady, yet real wage growth has room for improvement,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta in a statement released this morning.

“The failure of salaries to rise amid robust hiring and falling unemployment in the past few years is something of an economic mystery,” the New York Times reported this morning. “The data for August will probably intensify that question.”

The paper was overstating the mysterious aspect of the numbers, which the Harvard Business Review explained this way: “The allocation of corporate profits to stock buybacks deserves much of the blame. Consider the 449 companies in the S&P 500 index that were publicly listed from 2003 through 2012. During that period those companies used 54% of their earnings—a total of $2.4 trillion—to buy back their own stock, almost all through purchases on the open market. Dividends absorbed an additional 37% of their earnings. That left very little for investments in productive capabilities or higher incomes for employees.”

Two other underlying indicators of economic strength have been static for most of the past 12 months: The labor force participation rate remains at 62.9 percent, and the employment-population ratio is at 60.1 percent.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was 5.3 million in August, and has shown little movement in recent months. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

When those part-time workers’; numbers are added to the number of discouraged workers–those who have dropped out of the workforce, though they are still able to work–a more accurate portrait of unemployment and underemployment emerges–the so-called alternative measure of unemployment, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics places at 8.6 percent for August, again a figure unchanged since April (aside from a May dip), the last time it saw significant improvement.

“Multiple economic sectors showed job growth in August,” the labor secretary said, “including 36,000 manufacturing, 28,000 construction, and 6,000 mining and logging jobs. The breadth of job gains across manufacturing sub-industries is at a 20-year high; more than 70 percent of manufacturing sub-industries added jobs in August.”

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
You and your neighbors collectively read our articles about 25,000 times each day (that's not a typo) with up to 65,000 daily reads during emergencies like hurricanes. Flagler County residents rely on FlaglerLive for essential, bold and analytical journalism that cannot be found anywhere else. But we depend on your support. Please join our December fund drive! If you donate the cost of a scoop of ice cream, you will be helping us continue to provide comprehensive local news and honest, serious journalism for our community. If you can donate more or become a monthly donor, even better. Donations are tax deductible since FlaglerLive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donate by clicking anywhere in this box. Think of it as buying a scoop, in every sense of the term!  
All donors' identities are kept confidential and anonymous.
   

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Knightwatch says

    September 2, 2017 at 1:47 pm

    O.K., Trump, time to put up or shut up. Gas prices are up 30 cents/gallon. Surely that’s some Harvey gouging. Let’s see your famous negotiating skills tell oil companies to stop the price gouging and reduce gas prices at the pump.

    Reply
  2. Knightwatch says

    September 2, 2017 at 1:50 pm

    And what happened to those millions and millions of jobs you promised. You bragged about the July jobs report. Do you now take responsibility for the poor August report??

    Reply
  3. Sherry says

    September 3, 2017 at 4:45 pm

    Take a read about the massive job potential in the “CLEAN” energy sectors, including renewable/sustainable/efficiency energy industries. Developing clean, cheap energy and saving energy “should” be inspirational goal of the Democratic party. . . a mission that would could create hundreds of thousands of well paying jobs, while lowering the costs to all consumers, and helping to make our environment much more healthy.

    Here is the link:
    http://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-jobs-in-renewable-energy-and-energy-efficiency-2017

    Reply
  4. Knightwatch says

    September 4, 2017 at 4:09 pm

    hey Sherry, notice that cowardly and hypocritical conservatives have avoided commenting here. Notice they only comment on the news they deem favorable to their favorite human pile of orange excrement.

    Reply
  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Advertisers

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • Concerned Citizen on Flagler Sheriff’s Sgt. Breckwoldt, In Charge of Narcotics Unit, at Center of Abuse of Power Allegation
  • Dennis C Rathsam on Flagler’s Property Values Still Rose Robustly, Continuing Potential Windfall For Local Governments
  • The dude on I’m Almost 67, I Worked 22 Years With Walmart, Yet Can’t Afford to Retire
  • Travis on Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody Wants Supreme Court to Kill Recreational Pot Initiative
  • Jimbo99 on 251-Unit Wilton Apartment Project Breaks Ground in Town Center, Employing 300 During Construction
  • sean on 251-Unit Wilton Apartment Project Breaks Ground in Town Center, Employing 300 During Construction
  • YankeeExPat on Voters Approved an Amendment For Racial Equity in Districts. DeSantis Wants It Ignored.
  • One term and done on As Investigation of Principal Paul Peacock Nears Conclusion, His Absence from Reappointment List Draws Speculation
  • Dennis C Rathsam on Palm Coast’s Belk Converted Into One of 16 Outlet Stores as Company Struggles
  • Joshua Rosenbloom on Ron DeSantis Is in a War With Disney He Cannot Win
  • Jay Tomm on Flagler’s Property Values Still Rose Robustly, Continuing Potential Windfall For Local Governments
  • pete on Flagler Replaces Confusing Letter-Based Evacuation Zones With Neighborhood Names as Hurricane Season Begins
  • Day One. on Flagler Sheriff’s Sgt. Breckwoldt, In Charge of Narcotics Unit, at Center of Abuse of Power Allegation
  • Day One. on Flagler Sheriff’s Sgt. Breckwoldt, In Charge of Narcotics Unit, at Center of Abuse of Power Allegation
  • anon on Upside of Unrequited Survives Book Ban at FPC, But 57% of Challenged Titles Were Removed From Flagler Schools This Year
  • Mark Huston on 240-Unit Apartment Complex Planned Next to BJ’s Wholesale Club on State Road 100 in Palm Coast

Log in