Unemployment remains above 8.0% .
Lowest unemployment rate during Obama term was his first month in office.
Unemployment rate drops ONLY because more people quit looking for work.
368,000 Americans left the labor force.
This is devastating news for the Obama White House.
The AP reported:
U.S. employers added 96,000 jobs last month, a weak figure that could slow any momentum President Barack Obama hoped to gain from his speech to the Democratic National Convention.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July, the Labor Department said Friday. But that was only because more people gave up looking for work. The government only counts people as unemployed if they are actively searching.
The government also said 41,000 fewer jobs were created in July and June than first estimated. The economy has added just 139,000 jobs a month since the beginning of the year, below 2011’s average of 153,000.
Dow Jones industrial futures, which had been up before the report, fell soon after it was released.
The youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds specifically for August 2012 is 12.7 percent (NSA).
Workforce participation rate for men 69.9% – lowest since 1948…