How Many Jobs Were Created Last Month (September 2011)?

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The following numbers are as of September 2011.  For current jobs numbers, including jobs created or lost last month, please click the above link. 

103,000 new jobs were created in the month of September 2011.

The private sector generated 137,000 new jobs, but the government sector continued to shed jobs, 34,000 jobs, in September 2011.

398,000 more people reported themselves as working in September 2011. 

The unemployment rate stayed the same at 9.1% despite a growth in the number of jobs.  This is the third straight month that the unemployment rate has remained at 9.1%.  A continued unemployment rate of 9.1% does not represent any kind of robust jobs recovery. 

How many more or fewer people are working this month?  How many more or fewer jobs are there this month?  Were jobs lost or gained?

How many more jobs are there in August than there were in July 2011?


Let's look:

• 103,000 MORE jobs in seasonally-adjusted numbers were reported by employers now than in August.
• 519,000 MORE jobs in "raw" actual numbers not adjusted for seasonal variations were reported by employers now vs. August.

How many more private sector jobs are there in September than there were in August 2011?

• 137,000 MORE private-sector jobs in seasonally-adjusted numbers were reported by employers now than in August.
• 386,000 FEWER private-sector jobs in "raw" actual numbers not adjusted for seasonal variations were reported by employers now than in August.  (In other words, private employers are saying that they have actually employed 386,000 fewer people in September than in August.  Much of this is due to the end of summer jobs.) 

How many more (or fewer) government jobs are there in September than in August 2011?

• 34,000 FEWER government jobs in seasonally-adjusted numbers were reported by government employers at all levels (federal, state, and local) now than in August.
• 905,000 MORE government jobs in "raw" actual numbers not adjusted for seasonal variations were reported by government employers at all levels now than in August.  (This was mostly due to people returning to jobs in schools.)

How many more people are reporting themselves as working in September than in August 2011?

• 398,000 MORE people reported themselves as working in seasonally-adjusted numbers than were working in August.
• 167,000 MORE people reported themselves as working in "raw" actual numbers not adjusted for seasonal variations than were working in August.

What impact did the Verizon strike have on jobs numbers in September?

• The jobs numbers in August were paltry.  One of the reasons for such a dearth of job growth in August 2011 was the Verizon strike.  About 45,000 Verizon workers were not working in August, and those jobs were not included in the jobs numbers reported to the BLS.  
• In September, most of those workers were back at work.
• Some have claimed that the only reason that the jobs numbers looked decent in September is because of all of those Verizon workers going back to work. 
• In real, unadjusted numbers, there was a 49,000 decrease in telecommunications workers from July to August.  Most of that 49,000 decrease was due to the striking Verizon workers.  In real, unadjusted numbers, there was a 34,000 increase in telecommunications workers from August to September.  One can assume that increase was due mostly to the returning Verizon workers.  It appears that perhaps as many as 10,000 to 14,000 Verizon workers  either have not yet returned or won't return.  
• In seasonally adjusted numbers, there was a decrease of 52,000 telecommunications jobs from July to August 2011, and an increase of  37,000 telecommunications jobs from August to September 2011.
• In September 2011, there was a seasonally-adjusted increase of 137,000 private sector jobs in total.  There was only a 37,000 job increase in the number of telecommunications workers.  Thus, the Verizon workers counted for, at most, 27% of the increase in the number of private-sector jobs from August to September 2011.