U.S. adds 142,000 jobs in August; unemployment 6.1%

U.S. adds 142,000 jobs in August; unemployment 6.1%

Hiring in the United States slowed in August as the economy created just 142,000 jobs, marking the smallest gain since December. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected an increase of 228,000 nonfarm jobs. Employment fell in the auto industry and retailing, but most other sectors added workers, the government said Friday. The unemployment rate fell a tick to 6.1% ( Laughable ) to match a six-year low. More people found work, but more Americans (64,000) also dropped out of the labor force. The labor-force participation rate dipped to 62.8% from 62.9% ( Umm what? ). Average hourly wages, meanwhile, rebounded with a 0.2% gain to $24.53. Wages have risen 2.1% over the past 12 months. The amount of time people worked each week remained unchanged at a postrecession high of 34.5 hours. Employment gains for July and June were revised down by a combined 28,000, the Labor Department also said. The government said the 212,000 new jobs were created in July, up slightly from a preliminary 209,000. June's gain was reduced to 267,000 from 298,000, but that's still the second highest increase of the year. So far in 2014, the economy has gained an average of 215,000 jobs a month, up from 194,000 in 2014 and marking the fastest pace of hiring in at least a decade despite the slowdown in August. 
 http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm

Participation rate tumbles to 63% (the lowest print for an August since 1976) and the employment-population ratio drops to 59.1%.

The unemployment rate is meaningless. The two metrics I detailed, however, are not.

 Table A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age