Gallup: Unemployment Went Up — Again — in August

Terence P. Jeffrey
CNSNews.com
September 1, 2011

The U.S. unemployment rate increased in August, according to the Gallup polling company, which surveys approximately 30,000 people each month about their employment status.

By Gallup’s calculation, unemployment was 8.8 percent at the end of July and rose to 9.1 percent by the end of August. At the end of June, it was 8.7 percent.

Gallup’s unemployment rate differs slightly from the federal government’s. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (the federal agency that calculates the government’s official unemployment rate), the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in July. The BLS is scheduled to report its calculation of the national unemployment for August tomorrow.

Gallup is predicting that tomorrow's BLS report will also show that unemployment went up in August—unless so many unemployed people became discouraged during the month and stopped seeking jobs so that they are no longer calculated as part of the national workforce by the federal government, or unless the government makes an "unusual" seasonal adjustment to the unemployment numbers.

“This data further confirm Gallup's mid-month prediction that the August unemployment rate that the government will report Friday will be higher than the 9.1% it reported in July--barring another sizable decline in the U.S. workforce or an unusual seasonal adjustment,” said Gallup’s Chief Economist Dennis Jacobe in his analysis of Gallup’s unemployment numbers.

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