Employment fell by 247,000 jobs in July, according to today's preliminary report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. July's job losses were significantly lower than the 467,000 loss originally reported for June. Although the losses are large in historical terms, the levels continue to lend support to the argument that the employment situation appears to have stabilized. The economy has now shed over 6.7 million jobs since the start of the recession in December 2007.
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Along with the preliminary report for July, the BLS issued its Final Estimate of job losses for May at a loss of 303,000 jobs, up 42,000 from its preliminary estimate of -345,000. It also raised its June revised estimate up 24,000 jobs to a estimated loss of 443,000 jobs. One more revision for June may still occur.
Looking at industry employment figures, health care employment grew by 19,600 in July. Employment in transportation and warehousing declined by 22,400 in May, and the finance and insurance sector lost 12,900 jobs.
The unemployment rate unexpectedly dipped from 9.5 to 9.4 percent—still the highest we've seen since September 1983. Economists still predict rising unemployment well into 2010.
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