Posted by Joseph Y. Calhoun, III

From BLS:

Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in June (-467,000),
and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.5 percent, the Bureau
of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. 
Job losses were widespread across the major industry sectors, with
large declines occurring in manufacturing, professional and business
services, and construction.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

   The number of unemployed persons (14.7 million) and the unemployment
rate (9.5 percent) were little changed in June.  Since the start of the
recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has increas-
ed by 7.2 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 4.6 percentage
points.

There is nothing good in this report. The small rise in the unemployment rate was due to more people dropping out of the workforce. Hours worked fell and average hourly wages were flat.

Jobless claims came in at 614,000, down from a revised 630,000 last week. The drop in claims has stalled around the 600,000 level and that doesn’t bode well for the future either.

Yesterday, I opined that the numbers today would be better than expected because the administration needs to start showing some progress on the jobs front. Obviously, that was wrong for this report, but just as during the Bush administration the birth/death model over reported jobs created, this administration will eventually find a way to make the numbers look better.