After several months of strong job growth, hiring slowed sharply in May, raising concerns once again about the underlying strength of the economic recovery.
The Labor Department reported on Friday that the United States added 54,000 nonfarm payroll jobs last month, following an increase of 232,000 jobs in April. May’s job gain was about a third of what economists had been forecasting.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 9.1 percent from 9.0 percent in April.
Remember that the “unemployment rate” only records those folks who are still eligible for unemployment compensation. Also, recall that many people who are employed are underemployed – working a job that is less than their education/experience/skills, just so they can bring home a paycheck. Finally, keep in mind that many are working only part-time, and therefore are not eligible for benefits. The real rate is therefore much higher than 9%.
[i]After several months of strong job growth[/i]????????????
I read that phrase before clicking on the article: ah yes, from the Obama NYT apologetics journal. What strong job growth??? For 2 months in a row, the strong private-sector job provider has been none other than [b]McDonalds!!!![/b] The same company Ms. O would like to shut down or at least ban from “food deserts”.
It’s true that fast-food franchises like McDonald’s are the ones doing the hiring, but in a way, that’s unfortunate in an area like ours in the San Joaquin Valley, and in particular, here in Los Banos. We need [b]REAL[/b] jobs here, but our developers’ fees [b](Regional Transportation Impact Fees)[/b] are so high that they serve to discourage employers from coming here. They take one look, and say “sorry, but we can’t afford to do business here.” I suspect that the same is true in other areas, as well.