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Huffington Post...
Unemployment
Rate Rises To 8.3 Percent As U.S. Adds 163,000 Jobs In July
By Christopher S. Rugaber
08/03/12
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added 163,000 jobs in July, a hopeful sign
after three months of sluggish hiring.
The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate rose to 8.3
percent from 8.2 percent in June.
July’s hiring was the best since February. Still, the economy has added
an average of 151,000 jobs a month this year – enough to keep up with
population growth but not enough to drive down the unemployment rate.
“After a string of disappointing economic reports... we’ll certainly
take it,” said James Marple, senior economist at TD Economics.
The government uses two surveys to measure employment. A survey of
businesses showed job gains. The unemployment rate comes from a survey
of households and is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed
people by the size of the labor force. In July, more people said they
were unemployed, while the size of the labor force shrank even more.
Economists say the business survey is more reliable.
Investors appeared pleased with the report. Futures tracking the
Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the Dow Jones industrial average
gained about 1 percent. The stock market is coming off four days of
losses. Yields on government bonds also rose as investors moved money
out of low-risk assets.
Stronger job creation could help President Barack Obama’s re-election
hopes. Still, the unemployment rate has been above 8 percent since his
first month in office – the longest stretch on record. No president
since World War II has faced re-election with unemployment over 8
percent.
Read the rest of the article at the Huffington Post
Ohio GOP Chairman:
COLUMBUS - Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett issued the
following statement in response to July’s dismal unemployment report:
“Forty-two straight months of bad unemployment numbers underscores that
the private sector is not doing fine. Now is the time for President
Obama to stop strong-arming Congress into raising taxes on small
businesses, which Ernst & Young says threatens to destroy more than
700,000 jobs.
“With so many job creators and middle-class families struggling in the
Obama economy, Americans deserve a president who will put job creation
first. That’s why we need Mitt Romney’s vision for prosperity in the
White House.”
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