Economy adds 431K jobs but few in private sector
June 4, 2010 The Labor Department's new employment snapshot released Friday
suggested that outside of the burst of hiring of temporary census
workers by the federal government many private employers are wary
of bulking up their work forces.
That indicates the economic recovery may not bring relief fast
enough for millions of Americans who are unemployed.
Virtually all the job creation in May came from the hiring of
411,000 census workers. Such hiring peaked in May and will begin
tailing off in June.
By contrast, hiring by private employers, the backbone of the
economy, slowed sharply. They added just 41,000 jobs, down from
218,000 in April and the fewest since January.
The unemployment rate, which is derived from a separate survey
than the payroll figures, fell to 9.7 percent from 9.9 percent. The
dip partly reflected 322,000 people leaving the labor force for a
variety of reasons.
All told, 15 million people were unemployed in May.
Counting people who have given up looking for work and
part-timers who would rather be working full time, the
"underemployment" rate fell to 16.6 percent in May from 17.1
percent in April. Even with the drop, the high underemployment
figure shows how difficult it is for jobseekers to find work.
Employers across a range of industries last month added jobs at
a slower pace - or cut them. Factories, professional and business
services, leisure and hospitality companies, and education and
health care firms all slowed hiring. Financial services,
construction companies and retailers all pared jobs. Government,
however, led the way in hiring, adding a whopping 390,000 positions
last month.
Job gains in April were the same as first reported, while
payrolls in March were slightly less - 208,000 versus 230,000.
The prospect of persistently high unemployment is likely to
prevent consumers from going on the kinds of shopping sprees they
typically do during early phases of recoveries. That's a key reason
why this recovery isn't as energetic as those usually seen in the
past.
The unemployment rate in October hit 10.1 percent, a 26-year
high. Some analysts think it could go a bit higher and peak at 10.2
or 10.4 percent by June. However, that's lower than some forecasts
earlier this year of 11 percent.
About 125,000 new jobs are needed each month just to keep up
with population growth and prevent the unemployment rate from
rising.
Hiring isn't expected to be consistently strong enough to
quickly drive down the unemployment rate this year. Economists
think the rate will remain above 9 percent by the November midterm
elections. That could make Democratic and Republican incumbents in
Congress vulnerable.
Only 20 percent of Americans consider the economy in good
condition, according to an Associated Press-GfK Poll conducted in
mid-May.
Chrysler LLC said and Ford Motor Co. last month announced plans
to hire as auto sales have risen. But others are still laying off
workers. Hewlett-Packard Co. said this week it is cutting 9,000
jobs in its technology services division. And chocolate-maker
Hershey Co. may cut 600 jobs.