September 2, 2011

August Unemployment by the Numbers

After more than two and a half years of the Obama Administration’s destructive policies—including record spending, uncontrolled debt, the constant threat of higher taxes, and excessive regulations—unemployment remains staggeringly high and is showing no signs of getting better. Today’s labor report reiterates a sad fact that Americans already know: the economic recovery has stalled and President Obama’s economic policies have failed.

Zero: The number of new jobs added in the month of August, the first month since September 2010 that the economy has failed to add a single job.

9.1%: The unemployment rate for the month of August—the same rate as July and the second highest monthly level in 2011. Only 2 out of the last 28 months have seen unemployment below 9 percent (February and March 2011). From March 2009 (the month after the failed $1.2 trillion “stimulus” was signed) through August 2011, unemployment has averaged 9.4 percent. Prior to President Obama taking office, unemployment had not been above 9 percent in 28 years.

31: The number of consecutive months the unemployment rate has been at or above 8 percent—the level the president said unemployment would never reach if the “stimulus” was approved. Prior to the enactment of the “stimulus,” unemployment had not been above 8 percent for two and a half straight years since the Great Depression.

13,967,000: The number of unemployed Americans looking for work in the month of August, an increase of 36,000 from July and the second highest number of unemployed workers of any month in 2011. The number of unemployed eclipsed 13 million for the first time in history two months after President Obama took office and has remained above 13 million for 30 straight months.

-58,000: The number by which jobs gains in June and July were revised downward. The estimate for job creation in June was revised from 46,000 to 20,000 and job growth in July was revised downward from 117,000 to 85,000.

2,431,000: The number of net jobs the economy has shed from February 2009—when the Democrats’ “stimulus” was signed into law—through August 2011. On average, the economy has lost 78,419 jobs each month over that span.

15,800: The combined number of construction (-5,000), manufacturing (-3,000), and retail jobs (-7,800) that were lost in the month of August.

45,183,931: The number of Americans receiving food stamps as of June 2011, only the second month in history with more than 45 million food stamp recipients. Today, 14.5 percent of Americans receive food stamps, an increase of 40 percent since President Obama took office.

1.7%: The annual GDP growth rate the Office of Management and Budget now expects for 2011, according the Mid-Session Review of the president’s budget. GDP growth expectations are down a full percentage point from an expected 2.7 percent growth rate when the president’s budget was first released in February 2011.

40.3: The average number of weeks it takes for job seekers to find a job—the second longest average time that Americans have been unemployed since the statistic was first recorded in 1948. The only month higher was July 2011 with an average of 40.4 weeks unemployed.
34.2: The number of hours in an average work week in August, down from 34.3 percent in June and July, a sign of a greater slowdown in activity than economists had expected.

8,826,000: The number of Americans who worked only part-time in August because they could not find full time employment, an increase of 430,000 from July. The number of people working part time for economic reasons reached 8 million for the first time in history in February 2009, the month the “stimulus” was enacted, and has remained above 8 million for 31 consecutive months.

6,034,000: The number of Americans unemployed and searching for work for more than 27 weeks in the month of August. Since President Obama took office in January 2009, the number of people unemployed for more than 27 weeks has increased by 124 percent.

1,241,000: The number of job seekers that are new to the workforce and have yet to find a job. The number of new workers who cannot find a job has been above 1 million for two years.

25.4%: The unemployment rate among job seekers between the ages of 16 and 19 in August, up 0.4 percent from July. Youth unemployment has been above 24 percent for 27 months, the longest streak since the Great Depression.

16.7%: The unemployment rate among African Americans in August, up 0.8 percent from July and up 31 percent since President Obama took office.

11.3%: The unemployment rate among Hispanics and Latinos, an increase of 14 percent since President Obama took office.

14.3%: The unemployment rate among Americans without high school diplomas, an increase of 16 percent since President Obama took office.

6.5%: The level at which the Obama administration claimed unemployment would be today if the “stimulus” was signed into law.

$1,161,000,000,000: The total cost of the Democrats’ “stimulus.” CBO estimates the cost of the bill will reach $821 billion and interest on the debt for the bill will be at least $347 billion.

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For additional information, contact:

The House Republican Conference Policy Office