Welcome to the Business Journal Archives
Search for articles below, or continue to the all new BusinessJournalDaily.com now.
Search
"Unemployment Dips Slightly in August, Labor Department Says"
"WASHINGTON -- Unemployment dipped slightly in August, falling from 5.5% in July to 5.4%, as the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a lower-than-expected 144,000 jobs were created during the month. Though the August job creation numbers represented an improvement over a revised 73,000 jobs for July's relatively weak jobs report, economists had projected 150,000 new jobs, generally seen as needed to keep pace with the number of people entering the jobs market. The jobs report came the morning after the closing night of the Republican National Convention, and as the presidential campaign shifts into high gear. Representatives of both President Bush and U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts responded to the August numbers. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao described the report as "something to celebrate" this Labor Day -- 12 straight months of job creation. "Thanks to President Bush's steady leadership, this economy has created 1.7 million new jobs over the past year, including 144,000 jobs last month alone, and nearly 60,000 more jobs than what was initially announced in the previous two months," she said.Bush's Democratic challenger said the president "is now certain to be the first president since the Great Depression to face re-election without creating a single job." Under Bush, he said the country has lost 1.6 million jobs and is 7 million jobs short of the job-creation prediction Bush made in February 2002 when he lobbied for passage of his tax cuts. "This number should not come as any surprise given that this is an administration that says outsourcing is a good thing," Kerry said. "If you believe lost jobs mean that America is heading in the right direction, you should support George Bush and his policies of failure. But if you believe America needs to move in a new direction, join with us. I will set a new course with an economic plan that will create jobs and put middle-class families first."The Democrat's campaign also said that last year, Bush's Council of Economic Advisers predicted that his stimulus bill would create 306,000 jobs per month. "We've fallen short in 13 out of 15 months since he made this promise," Kerry said.He also noted that average hourly wages increased only 2.3% in the last year, according to the report, well short of inflation."