U.S. Only Added 54,000 Workers In May As Jobless Rate Rises
HUFFPOST / REUTERS: – Employment rose far less than expected in May to record its weakest reading since September, while the jobless rate rose to 9.1 percent as high energy prices and the effects of Japan’s earthquake bogged down the economy.
Nonfarm payrolls increased 54,000 last month, the Labor Department said on Friday, with private employment rising 83,000, the least amount since June. Government payrolls dropped 29,000.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected payrolls to rise 150,000 and private hiring to increase 175,000 in May. The government revised employment figures for March and April to show 39,000 fewer jobs created than previously estimated… (more)
EDITOR: Many, if not most economists, warned that prematurely ending federal fiscal stimulus would slow and possibly reverse the decline in unemployment. The unemployed generate less tax money and their unemployment compensation and social safety net adds to the annual deficit. It is by stimulating the economy during recessions and getting people back to work that we will again generate the Clinton era annual tax surpluses.
Find us on: