Jobs Numbers: Breakdown by Sector

The latest overall job loss numbers showed a loss of 131,000 jobs in July and an unemployment rate remaining at 9.5%.

So far for this recession, the peak of losses was 779,000 lost jobs in January 2009. In the 2001 recession, monthly losses hit a high of 325,000. The 1990-91 recession peaked at 306,000 losses. Numbers generally peak toward the end of a recession, making employment a lagging indicator. The unemployment rate peaked at 10.8% at the end of the 1981-82 recession.

Here is a breakdown of the jobs report by sector. The drop was driven primarily by the 202,000 losses in the government jobs, mostly census workers.

Total change in non-farm payroll = - 131,000

• Private Sector = + 71,000
• Logging & Mining = + 8,000
• Construction = - 11,000
• Manufacturing = + 36,000
• Durable goods = + 36,000
• Non-durable goods = unch
• Services = + 38,000
• Wholesale Trade = + 8,400
• Retail Trade = + 6,700
• Transportation & Warehousing = + 12,200
• Utilities = - 2,500
• Information Technology = + 1,000
• Financial Svcs = - 17,000
• Professional & Business Svcs = - 13,000
• Education & Health Svcs = + 30,000
• Leisure = + 6,000
• Government = - 202,000
• Federal = -154,000
• State = -10,000
• Local = - 38,000

The futures are trading down on the worse than expected news.

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