The Labor Department has released its statistics for July. They show that 209,000 jobs were created, and the official unemployment rate dropped from 4.4% in June to 4.3% in July -- marking the fourth straight month the rate has been in the 4.3% to 4.4% range.
But while the unemployment rate dropped, the number of unemployed workers actually rose by 4,000 workers (from 6,977,000 in June to 6,981,000 in July). That means the unemployment rate didn't fall because of fewer unemployed workers, but because the size of the civilian work force increased by more than the number of unemployed workers did.
I'm sure Trump will brag about what a good job he's doing with the economy, but the truth is that he (and the GOP Congress) have done nothing to significantly affect the economy. All they've done is pass a budget resolution that continued the Obama budget through September.
They will have to do something soon though. By the end of September, they need to raise the debt ceiling and pass a budget for next year. Raising the debt ceiling will require some compromise, and passing a new budget will require some hard work. So far, the GOP Congress has shown itself incapable of either compromise or hard work. And the budget Trump has proposed has already been tossed in the trash by Congress. It will be interesting to see if they can actually accomplish something.
Here are the relevant statistics for July.
OFFICIAL SIZE OF CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:
160,494,000
OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:
6,981,000
OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:
4.3%
DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:
Adult men...............4.0%
Adult women...............4.0%
Teens (16-19)...............13.2%
Whites...............3.8%
Blacks...............7.4%
Asians...............3.8%
Hispanics...............5.1%
Less than HS diploma...............6.9%
HS graduate...............4.5%
Some college...............3.7%
Bachelor's deg. or more...............2.4%
NUMBER OF MARGINALLY-ATTACHED WORKERS (not in official count):
1,629,000
MORE REALISTIC NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED (marginally-attached + official count):
8,610,000
MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:
5.36%
