The United States added 144,000 jobs in August, according to Labor Department estimates. Moreover, restatement of prior months; job growth figures adds another 59,000. Net: 203,000 new jobs.

The good news continues:

The unemployment rate fell by a tenth percentage point to 5.4 percent, the lowest since October 2001. Job growth in June and July was revised higher by a cumulative 59,000. Average hourly earnings rose by 5 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $15.77 an hour. Wages are up 2.3 percent year—over—year. The average workweek was unchanged at 33.8 hours. Aggregate hours worked in the economy increased 0.2 percent. Goods—producing industries created 36,000 jobs in August, including 22,000 in manufacturing. Service—producing industries created 108,000 jobs, including 42,000 in health—care.

And this does not include the ongoing trend of exploding work opportunities among the self—employed, who do not show up in employment surveys. The internet has sparked a vast movement of the entrepreneurially—minded into independent contractor jobs, as opposed to salaried work. Hundreds of thousands of merchants peddle their wares on ebay and other internet marketplaces, all of them uncounted in these emplopyment surveys.

Posted by Ed   9 3 04