Health care jobs grow, construction employment continues to drop in August
I know that summer is basically over, and you probably don’t want to hear any more bad news right now. So I’ll start with the good news first. It’s Friday. And being the first Friday of the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its employment situation report this morning. And here is where the bad news begins…
Payroll employment dropped for the first time in a long time this past month, with a net loss of 4,000 jobs. If you think in terms of the total number of employed workers, which stands at 138 million in the U.S., this seems like a minimal drop. The report phrased it quite nicely, stating that the employment situation was “essentially unchanged” in August. But economists were hoping to gain around 100,000 new positions last month. So technically, this is the first time that we’ve seen the crumbling housing market affect our country’s overall employment.
Unsurprisingly, some of the biggest losses came in the manufacturing and the construction industries. Manufacturing jobs dropped by 46,000 in August, which brings the grand total of lost positions since last year to 215,000. Construction employment fell by 22,000. Another sector that lost a considerable amount of jobs was local government education, which reported a loss of 32,000 positions.
On a more positive note, health care employment and the hospitality industry helped to keep the payroll numbers somewhat even. Ambulatory care services added 18,000 jobs in August and hospital positions grew by 11,000. Employment in social assistance also increased by 14,000 jobs. Overall, food services and drinking places added 24,000 positions. Since August of 2006, this industry has contributed 350,000 new jobs to payroll employment.
That is all the big news that the report yielded. Similar to the overall payroll numbers, most categories remained unchanged in August. The average weekly earnings did continue rise by another 0.3 percent. So now the average American makes $591.50 per week. Not the silver lining we were hoping for, but it’s something.
If you are in the market for a new career, it is best to steer clear of any industries related to real estate for now. CollegeCourses.com features a large number of online schools that specialize in health care, including University of Phoenix, AIU, and Warren National University.