Houston Democrats

BLS: Nonfarm employment grew by 207,000 in July, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.0 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the month, payroll employment rose in many service-providing industries.

On the surface, this number looks good. The general economic adage is the economy must create 150,000 jobs/month to keep up with natural economic attrition – people leaving jobs for better paying jobs, firms closing etc…. So far so good.

BLS: Retail trade employment rose by 50,000 in July, following little change in June. This industry has gained 197,000 jobs over the year. In July, retail employment gains were widespread, including growth in clothing stores (13,000), motor vehicle and parts dealers (10,000), and building material and garden supply stores (7,000).

According to the Bureau of Labor Services, the average retail hourly wage was $12.43/hour. That comes to $23,865.60 an hour.

BLS: employment in food services and drinking places rose by 30,000 over the month. This industry has added 262,000 jobs over the year.

According to the BLS, food services hourly pay is $9.10/hour or $17,472.00/year.

Employment in professional and technical services increased by 23,000 in July. Over the year, this industry has added 211,000 jobs.

According to the BLS, the average hourly wage of professional and technical workers is $18.08/hour or $34,713.60/year. That’s more like it. These are the kind of jobs we should be creating.

Employment in financial activities rose by 21,000 over the month, as credit intermediation and real estate showed continued strength.

According to the BLS, hourly compensation for financial employees is $18/hour or $34,560/year. As with the professional services, these are good jobs that we should me creating. I will add a caveat here: for those of you who believe the US is currently experiencing a real estate bubble how long do you think these jobs will last?

Construction jobs increased by 7,000 last month. Construction pays well at $19.50/hour or $37,440/year. Again, this is good money, but tied to the housing market.

According to the BLS, manufacturing jobs decreased by 4000. The average hourly wage in manufacturing is $16.55 or $31,776/year. This is not good, but then again the Bush economy doesn’t want to make anything except houses.

The health care industry continued to grow in July, adding 29,000 jobs. Ambulatory health care services (which includes doctors' offices and outpatient clinics), hospitals, and nursing and residential care facilities all contributed to the employment gain.

According to the BLS, the average hourly wage in education and health care services is $16.55.hour or $31,776/year. Again, this is good.

So, to sum up, 40% of the jobs created are low quality – retail and food services jobs. An additional 10% are tied to at least partially to the housing sector – construction and financial services. The rest of the jobs created seem to be good solid jobs that pay well in industries that are not tied to real estate or law-pay. And as usual, manufacturing jobs are still disappearing.

So, the report is half good and half-bad.