Decline In Non Farm Jobs Lower Than Expected

Non farm jobs declined by 54,000 in August, the Labor Department said on Friday. Despite the decline, investors felt relieved about the fact that it was at a much slower pace than was projected by economists. Growth in the healthcare and temporary staffing industries supported the employment numbers, which were adversely impacted by the layoff of temporary Census workers. The stock market responded positively to the news. Although the report was not as bad as feared, the decline in non farm jobs last month points towards a struggling US economy. Moreover, the payrolls count for the previous two months was revised upwards. The count was raised to 175,000 for June and by 54,000 for July, taking the cumulative count 123,000 higher. The unemployment rate rose to 9.6% last month from 9.5% in July. Read more