The Employment Situation: August 1997 — 1997-09-05

Employment and unemployment were little changed in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The jobless rate was 4.9 percent in August; it had been 4.8 percent in July and has shown little movement over the past several months. Nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 49,000 in August to 122.5 million. This gain would have been closer to the recent growth trend if not for the effects of strike activity during the survey reference period. Workers on strike for the entire reference period are not counted as employed in the survey of establishments because they are not being paid by their employers. In contrast, in the household survey, striking workers and others with unpaid absences are counted as employed. The number of unemployed persons, 6.7 million, and the unemployment rate, 4.9 percent, were essentially unchanged in August.