Unemployment rate seems frozen

WASHINGTON – Unemployment is stuck at high levels even though some companies are hiring. The problem, government data show, is that too few jobs are being created for the growing number of people looking for work.

Private employers added a net total of 67,000 jobs in August. But the unemployment rate rose to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent, the Labor Department said Friday, because the number of job-seekers overwhelmed the number of openings.

The unemployment rate has exceeded 9 percent for 16 straight months and is all but sure to extend that streak into next year. If it does, it would break a record of 19 straight months above 9 percent, set from 1982-83, after a severe recession.

Nearly 15 million people are unemployed this Labor Day weekend, and the sluggish economy is putting pressure on President Obama and the Democrats ahead of the November midterm elections. Obama said Friday that he intended to unveil a new package of proposals that likely will include tax cuts and spending to spark job growth.

On top of the jobs that companies created last month, both July and June’s private-sector job figures were upwardly revised. Overall, the economy lost 54,000 jobs last month as 114,000 temporary census positions ended.

The Labor Department report hardly suggests the economy is out of danger, but the figures were not as bleak as some economists had predicted.

Wall Street embraced the news, and stocks surged within seconds of its release. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 127 points.

Even with August’s gains, job growth has weakened in recent months and isn’t enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising. Private employers have added only 78,000 jobs a month, on average, in the past three months. It would take at least 200,000 jobs a month to keep up with population growth and rehire millions of unemployed Americans.