With 8% the new contemporary standard for the unemployment rate, the number of unemployed persons (12.8 million) in July showed an unemployment rate once again just above 8%, holding steady at 8.3%. After dropping like a rock throughout the fall and winter months of last year, this is unchanged throughout the year, on par with the 8.3% recorded in January. Of these unemployed, the number of long-term unemployed- jobless for 27 weeks and over- also showed little movement at 5.2 million.
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons was 8.2 million while 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down from 2.7 million a year earlier. Among these, there were 821,000 discouraged workers in June, a decline of 161,000 from a year earlier. This stagnation is undoubtedly here to stay until after the presidential election in November, so buckle in for a boring ride.
