The nation’s unemployment rate climbed to 6.1 percent in August, and 84,000 jobs were lost, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics released today.
The job loss exceeded economists’ expectations and brought the number of jobs lost since December to 605,000. Unemployment rose from 5.7 percent in July.
Unemployment grew disproportionately among younger workers between 16 and 24 years old, Keith Hall, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said in a release.
Including workers who have stopped job-hunting and are not reflected in Labor Department data, the nation’s actual unemployment rate could be closer to 7.7 percent, said Peter Morici, professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.
“This was much worse than was expected, as the full weight of banking crisis, rising oil prices and imports from China drive up unemployment,” he said.
