private sector
Unemployment rate unchanged at 9.1% on flat jobs reportPosted by RJ and Makay on Sep 02, 2011 |
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Non-farm payrolls were unchanged in August as the U.S. economy failed to add jobs for the first time in 11 months, according to the Labor Department. The stagnant performance in was down sharply from a revised 85,000 gain in July jobs, and below economist’s consensus August forecasts of 60,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate also remained unchanged at 9.1%.
The U.S. economy added only 18,000 jobs in June as sluggish job gains put a damper on the slow economic recovery for the second month in a row. The number fell far short of 105,000 jobs that economists had predicted for the month. The unemployment rate rose to 9.2% from 9.1% the previous month.
The pace of U.S. hiring slowed last month with non-farm payrolls adding only 54,000 jobs in May, about a third of what economists had forecasted for the month, according to the Labor Department. It was the smallest monthly job gain in almost a year. The unemployment rate increased to 9.1% from 9.0% in April. Economists surveyed by the Dow Jones News Wire had expected payroll gains of 185,000.
