Unemployment rate drops to 8.4 percent

Decline spurred by hiring for temporary jobs with U.S. Census Bureau

The U.S. unemployment rate dropped below 10 percent last month, spurred by temporary government hiring by the U.S. Census Bureau. (Facebook/City of Siloam Springs)

By Ted Cox

The unemployment rate dropped below 10 percent in August for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the economy in March, according to the latest government estimate released Friday.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly unemployment report, setting the national unemployment rate at 8.4 percent, the fourth straight month to see a decline and well below the 10.2 percent reported in July. According to the bureau, nonfarm employment rose by 1.4 million, and the number of unemployed workers declined by double that.

“These improvements in the labor market reflect the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it,” the bureau stated in a news release. It added that “an increase in government employment largely reflected temporary hiring for the 2020 Census,” although there were also gains in “professional and business services, in leisure and hospitality, and in education and health services.”

But the unemployment rate remained more than double the 3.5 percent recorded in February, with the bureau estimating that almost 8 million more workers were jobless compared with February.

Bureau Commissioner William Beach issued an accompanying statement saying: “Taking a closer look at the August payroll data, employment in government increased by 344,000, accounting for one-fourth of the over-the-month growth in total nonfarm employment. Federal government employment rose by 251,000, reflecting the hiring of 238,000 temporary workers for the 2020 Census. Local government added 95,000 jobs over the month. Despite these gains, employment in government is 831,000 lower than in February.”

According to the bureau, the unemployment rate declined in August for “adult men (8 percent), adult women (8.4 percent), teenagers (16.1 percent), Whites (7.3 percent), Blacks (13 percent), and Hispanics (10.5 percent). The jobless rate for Asians (10.7 percent) changed little over the month.”

The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that new weekly claims for unemployment insurance remained stubbornly above the pre-COVID record of 695,000 in a week set during the 1982 recession, with 880,000 idled workers filing new claims for benefits last week.