Unemployment: 8.1%, +96,000 Jobs, -368,000 Leave Labor Force

Unemployment
Probably the greatest labor saving device in the history of the nation
Is the present Administration.
— Ogden Nash

The August Unemployment Situation Report came out this morning from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nonfarm payroll employment (NFP) rose by 96,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell a couple of notches from July's 8.3% to 8.1% last month largely because of the exodus of workers from the labor force. From July to August, 368,000 workers left the civilian labor force. That brought the civilian labor force participation rate down to it's lowest level in more than 30 years: 63.5%.

The latest report also revised the job gains of June and July downward. Instead of 64,000 new jobs in June, only 45,000 were created. July's 163,000 new jobs were cut to 141,000. When you look at the 96,000 jobs created in August, don't forget those 41,000 jobs in June and July that only ever existed in some bureaucrats dreams.