CNS News
195,000 Fewer Americans Had Jobs in July; 150,000 Dropped Out of Labor Force
By Terence P. Jeffrey
August 3, 2012 

(CNSNews.com) - There were 195,000 fewer people employed in the United States in July than in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as the national unemployment rate ticked up from 8.2 percent to 8.3 percent. 

Meanwhile, 150,000 people simply dropped out of the labor force during the month and did not seek to find a job. 

In June, according to BLS, there had been 142,415,000 people employed in the United States. In July, that dropped to 142,220,000--a decline of 195,000. 

Similarly, in June, there were 155,163,000 people in the civilian labor force in the United States. To be counted in the civilian labor force, person must be 16 years old or older, not be in the military, prison or a mental institution, and either have a job or have actively looked for a job in the past four weeks.

In July, the number of people in the civilian labor force was 155,013,000--a decline of 150,000 from June. 

The number of people who were unemployed--meaning they were 16 or older, not in the military, a prison or a mental institution, and had actively looked for a job in the last four weeks-jumped by 45,000 during the month, climbing from 12,749,000 in June to 12,794,000 in July. 

During July, the number of people who simply left the labor force (150,000) exceeded the number of newly unemployed (45,000) by more than two to one (105,000).