Charting U.S. employment over the past 13 months
Total non-farm payroll employment continued to trend down in June (-62,000). Since peaking in December 2007, payroll employment has fallen by 438,000. This is according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Within professional and business services, employment services lost 59,000 jobs in June; about half of the decrease (-30,000) occurred in temporary help services. So far this year, monthly job losses in temporary help services have averaged 26,000 compared with average declines of 7,000 per month in 2007
Employment in construction fell by 43,000 in June, as job losses continued across the industry. Since its peak in September 2006, construction employment has fallen by 528,000.
Manufacturing employment fell by 33,000. Job losses were widespread throughout the industry, with notable declines in fabricated metal products (-9,000), printing and related support activities (-6,000), and wood products (-6,000). Over the past 12 months, manufacturing has lost 353,000 jobs.
Health care employment continued to grow in June (15,000), although the increase was half the size of the average monthly gain during the prior 12 months. Since June 2007, health care has added 348,000 jobs.
This data is from the BLS Current Employment Statistics program, and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent two months is preliminary. More information can be found in "The Employment Situation: June 2008," (HTML) (PDF) news release USDL 08-0928.