July jobs report: Economy still losing jobs

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- For the second month in a row, the U.S. economy shed jobs as the government continued to unload census workers, offsetting disappointing gains in private business hiring.

The Labor Department on Friday reported a net loss of 131,000 jobs in July, an improvement from the revised loss of 221,000 jobs in June.

"The job market has lost steam and remains lethargic," said Sung Won Sohn, economics professor at Cal State University Channel Islands.

Businesses have now added jobs in every month so far this year, a total of 630,000 positions. But that works out to an anemic 90,000 a month. There needs to be an overall gain of about 150,000 jobs a month just to keep pace with population growth.

And private sector job growth seems to be losing ground. The 71,000 gain in business hiring was up from even weaker revised readings for May and June, but was still well below the nearly 200,000 monthly gains in March and April, when the labor market appeared set to turn the corner.

Public sector job losses weren't limited to temporary jobs, as government jobs outside of census fell by 59,000 in the month, most being cut from state and local governments facing budget problems.

The overall loss was worse than the 87,000 job loss forecast by economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.5% in June. Economists had expected the jobless rate to edge up to 9.6%. But that was mostly because of 381,000 workers who stopped looking for work in recent weeks, and were therefore no longer counted as part of the labor force.

The percentage of the population with jobs fell for the third straight month to 58.4% and is now approaching the 26-year low in that reading reached in December.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/06/news/economy/jobs_july/

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Great news for the anti-government sector.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Great news for the anti-government sector.

Sure hope Obama can fix this once he becomes President.

[thongd4me 69]

Watched it this morning on the CNBC circus - 202,000 government jobs in the red doesn't bode well.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Watched it this morning on the CNBC circus - 202,000 government jobs in the red doesn't bode well.

Government at all levels could stand to shed a few million jobs. That is a good sign. That private industry is not hiring even at a maintenance rate is a bad sign.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Sure hope Obama can fix this once he becomes President.

Bush's tax cuts sure worked.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Bush's tax cuts sure worked.

Ignorance is bliss, eh?

[DEDixon 39]

Ignorance is bliss, eh?

more like stupidity. even Obama does had to stop blaming bush.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Ignorance is bliss, eh?

Are you arguing that Bush's Tax Cuts did fulfill the promise of creating jobs?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Oh look! The Brits have their own thread!

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/268635-us-job-losses-are-double-expected-figure/

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Bush's tax cuts sure worked.

Your like a little boy not wanting to bury his dead pet.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

No takers on actually answering whether Bush's Tax Cuts fulfilled their promise of creating jobs? Hmmmm...figures.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

No takers on actually answering whether Bush's Tax Cuts fulfilled their promise of creating jobs? Hmmmm...figures.

It hasn't been about Bush for 20 months now. It hasn't even been about the Republicans in Congress for 44 months. When are the Democrats going to man up, and take responsibility for crashing the family car?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

It hasn't been about Bush for 20 months now. It hasn't even been about the Republicans in Congress for 44 months. When are the Democrats going to man up, and take responsibility for crashing the family car?

It is relevant because that's the economic platform of the opposition party right now - extending those tax cuts they enacted years before. Nice dodge though of the facts because you can't refute the statistical data regarding the tax cuts and job creation during the previous 8 years. And given that the tax cuts actually took us from a surplus to a deficit, it is ironic for the "deficit hawks" to be turning a blind eye to that failed economic policy, while trying to continue pimping it to the American people.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

It is relevant because that's the economic platform of the opposition party right now - extending those tax cuts they enacted years before. Nice dodge though of the facts because you can't refute the statistical data regarding the tax cuts and job creation during the previous 8 years. And given that the tax cuts actually took us from a surplus to a deficit, it is ironic for the "deficit hawks" to be turning a blind eye to that failed economic policy, while trying to continue pimping it to the American people.

So, you want to excuse the lack of performance by the current administration on the policies of the previous administration. Way to take charge there!