Summary Review: The DOL BLS Report On July, 2013 Unemployment Rate

This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest jobs numbers, reporting 162,000 jobs added and an unemployment rate of 7.4%, down from June’s rate of 7.6%.

The decrease in unemployment is partly attributed to more people dropping out of the workforce. Revisions to the previous two months meant that 26,000 fewer jobs were added in May and June than previously reported.

It’s time for Washington to be honest: the economy is struggling and continues to spiral downward. A dropping unemployment rate simply does not tell the whole story of an economy where the labor participation rate has barely grown since 2008, wages are falling and the average work week is shrinking. These negative consequences can be linked directly to the big government policies from this administration including higher taxes and Obamacare. After 56 months of unemployment above 7.0% it is obvious that years of failed, big government policies have produced a nation where economic uncertainty is the new normal. It shouldn't have to be that way. We can’t afford to allow Washington to put off fiscal responsibility any longer or use the failure of the policies Americans have endured for the last five years to justify more wasteful spending. The millions of Americans still out of work need it now. It’s time for action.

Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens responded today to the BLS job numbers:"The job report serves as a continuing indictment of the Obama economy showing that a lower percentage of Americans are participating in the workforce than at any time since 1981.

"At a time when Obama has attacked the value of construction jobs generated by energy projects like the building of the Keystone XL pipeline, our nation lost 6,000 construction jobs in July, a loss that would have been completely offset if the pipeline was being built based upon State Department estimates.

"Our nation's economy continues to stumble along, held aloft by a private sector that refuses to fail in spite of the inordinate burdens placed upon it by the federal government through its environmental, employment and health care policies.

"It is time for Congress to act by defunding the job killing Obamacare law, grabbing the EPA by the purse strings to prevent it from implementing its global warming, job killing agenda and keeping the radical Labor Department and NLRB from targeting job producers to suit the needs of their masters at Big Labor.

"The almost 20 million Americans who are either unemployed and want a job or in a part time job for economic reasons deserve to have a chance at achieving the American dream. It is a crime that the Obama Administration religiously continues down a path that is guaranteed to deny them this basic hope."House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) released the following statement on today's Department of Labor’s unemployment report:“Three years after the Obama administration proclaimed ‘welcome to the recovery,’ we’re still seeing the same thing month after month: not enough new jobs and an unemployment rate far higher than promised. Nearly five years of aggressive intervention by Washington - the ‘stimulus’ era of excessive spending, excessive red tape, and abuse by agencies like the IRS – has left our economy treading water with slow growth, high unemployment, and stagnant wages. The Republican jobs plan will shake us out of this ‘new normal’ with pro-growth policies designed to expand energy production, simplify our tax code for everyone, and restore our nation of builders to give the American people the robust growth and opportunity they deserve.”Evan Feinberg, President of Generation Opportunity which tracks the impact of government on 18-29 year olds, noted:“Looks like another bad month for young people. Last week we learned from Gallup that only 43.6% of 18-29 year olds are employed full-time and now we have another Millennial Jobs Report showing roughly 1 in 6 18-29 year olds are out of work entirely.

"This jobs report shows that Obamacare and other 'solutions' coming from Washington are scaring off employers from hiring, and as a result my generation is getting stuck in a cycle of part-time, temporary jobs – not the meaningful careers for which they studied. It's tragic to see a generation as talented and innovative as mine go to waste.

"Young people deserve better than to pick up the tab for the irresponsible policies coming out of Washington, and we deserve better than part-time work flipping burgers. Politicians need to acknowledge that their efforts to "help" are relegating us to second-class citizens."The effective (U6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds, which adjusts for labor force participation by including those who have given up looking for work, is 16.1 percent (NSA). The declining labor force participation rate has created an additional 1.8 million young adults that are not counted as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs. Of special note is that the (U3) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old African-Americans is 20.9 percent.

Over the past five years, we've seen a concerted attempt by Washington to spend and borrow the economy back into recovery. But putting millions of Americans back to work will not happen by increasing government spending. It hasn't worked yet, and it won’t work in the foreseeable future.

Washington promised that increased federal spending would stimulate the economy, grow jobs and get America back on track. It has failed to deliver on that promise and failed to succeed by the administration’s own standards.

• A positive long-term trend in the unemployment rate can be attributed almost entirely to a reduction in the labor force participation rate, not more people finding jobs.
• The hardest hit are young people, who are not achieving traditional milestones, and the middle class, which has seen little, if any, boost financially. Treading water is unacceptable.
• And burdensome regulations, such as Obamacare, are hurting small businesses, contributing to the creation of a part-time economy with a reduction in average hourly wages and hours in the workweek.

For far too long, Washington has, through spending, regulations, taxes and healthcare, made it difficult for businesses to thrive. Delays of certain portions of Obamacare may have seemed like relief, but delays simply leave individuals and businesses unable to plan. Employers have already been forced to cut hours or freeze hiring as a result of new regulations and the burden of Obamacare.

It’s time for Washington to take responsibility for its overspending, get out of the way and allow small businesses and the American worker drive a recovery. Our economy deserves better. We deserve better.

With unemployment edging down in July, it is important to take a closer look at the numbers to reveal just how damaging the last four years have been.

• The 162,000 jobs added in July are far below what an economy in full recovery should be producing.
• Today, over 22 million Americans are unemployed, underemployed, or are no longer looking for work.
• Another, broader unemployment figure reported by the Department of Labor includes the traditional unemployed, those who have given up looking for work, and those who are working a part-time job but want full-time work. This figure fell to 14 percent in July.
• In January 2009, the average amount of time spent unemployed was 19.8 weeks. Today, the amount of time has nearly doubled, rising to 36.6 weeks.

July unemployment report: a closer look

• Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 162,000.
• Unemployment rate: 7.4 percent.
• Total unemployed: 11.5 million.
• Total underemployed (unemployed, underemployed, or stopped looking): 14 percent.
• Total underemployed: 22.2 million.
• Total stopped looking (discouraged workers): 988,000.
• Decrease in the civilian labor force: 37,000.
• Long-term unemployed: 4.2 million.
• The adult male unemployment rate of 7 percent did not change.
• The adult women unemployment rate decreased to 6.5 percent in July.
• The unemployment rate for Hispanics increased to 9.4 percent in July.
• Teens continued to experience the highest unemployment at 23.7 percent.
• The unemployment rate for individuals with a high school diploma and no college stayed the same at 7.6 percent in July.
• The unemployment rate for individuals with a bachelor's degree remained essentially the same at 3.8 percent.
• The number of unemployed individuals decreased in July to 11.5 million.
• Of the 11.8 million Americans unemployed, 4.2 million have been looking for work for over six months, a decrease of 82,000 from June.

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