Econ Bad News

Layoffs Rose Sharply Last Month, Report Says

Employers continued to shed workers in August, the Government reported this morning, but despite the drop in payroll employment the nation's unemployment rate ticked slightly lower last month.

In its monthly employment survey, which it said was probably not impacted by the August 14 blackout in the Northeast, the Labor Department said that non-farm payroll employment fell by 93,000 last month. It is the seventh consecutive decline in employment, and was the biggest monthly decline since March.

Meanwhile, the nation's unemployment rate dipped to 6.1 percent, from 6.2 percent in July.

The job loss numbers were a surprise and a disappointment to many private economists, who had been expecting that payroll employment would be unchanged or perhaps slightly higher. Compounding the concern is the fact that other indicators suggest the economy is growing vigorously in the current quarter.