Jobless numbers rise in August

WASHINGTON — The unemployment rate went up slightly to 9.6 percent in August as employers shed 54,000 jobs during the month, the Labor Department said Friday in a jobs report that nonetheless provided a surprise in better-than-expected private-sector and temporary hiring.

Much of the net job loss was the result of census workers exiting payrolls, as their work was complete. The narrower number for private-sector hiring showed that 67,000 jobs were added in companies and corporations, down from July’s 107,000 but above what mainstream forecasters had expected.

Also surprising forecasters were the 16,800 temporary positions created last month, generally a harbinger of future hiring as employers test the waters with part-timers. Wage growth also was stronger than expected at 0.3 percent, a sign that some workers are getting more money to spend.

Government statisticians revised preliminary estimates for June and July, too, showing that about 123,000 fewer jobs were lost over those months than originally had been projected.

It all added up to a more bullish jobs report than the consensus expectations of mainstream economists.

“The jobs numbers were good, and measurably better than expected, but far from good enough. Private-sector job gains have averaged close to 90,000 per month since the start of the year when job growth resumed,” said Mark Zandi, the chief economist for forecaster Moody’s Analytics. “This is enough to ensure that the economy won’t slide back into recession, but it is well short of the 150,000 per month needed to forestall further increases in unemployment.”

The economy continues to lose ground on jobs because of the large number of new entrants into the work force. The jobless rate in August crept up a tenth of a percentage point to 9.6 percent, in part because of the growth in the work force and formerly discouraged workers coming back into the labor force to seek employment.

Through the end of August, private employers have added 763,000 jobs this year. While positive, that’s against a grim backdrop of almost 8.4 million jobs lost in 2008 and 2009, suggesting a long road ahead still for the 14.9 million Americans who are on the unemployment rolls, 6.2 million of them jobless for half a year or longer.

“This report shows continued positive but subpar employment growth, not enough to absorb new workers or lower unemployment. Unfortunately, this is what is expected for the foreseeable future,” said Lawrence Mishel, the president of the Economic Policy Institute.

President Barack Obama put his economic team before the White House cameras Friday and touted the eighth consecutive month of growth in private-sector employment.

“We just have to speed it up,” the president said, stressing that jobs must continue to be created. He repeated his call for Republicans in Congress to get behind his legislation to provide more help for small businesses, which account for about 60 percent of hiring in the nation.