May Unemployment Rates Released

As much as we want the recession to be over and to be on a solid road to recovery, the sad fact is we are still a ways away from a strong economy, at least in terms of employment. Sure, April gave us reason to hope when the regional unemployment rate dropped from 9.3 percent to 8.3 percent. The number of people who were unemployed dropped by nearly 10,000 and actual number of people working climbed by nearly 12,000.
May’s numbers were released this week, and they were not bad, but they were not particularly good either. All variables (Labor Force, Employment, Unemployment and Unemployment Rate) leveled off instead of showing continued signs of improvement. The labor force increased by 213, unemployment decreased by 714, while employment grew by just 927. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.3 percent.
Adding to this lackluster news is today’s release of the national employment numbers for June (remember the state and local figures will lag the national) indicating a net loss of 125,000 jobs. The loss of 225,000 temporary census jobs is largely to blame for the net decline. Were it not for the loss of these census jobs, the country would have added roughly 100,000 jobs. The bulk of these jobs (83,000) were in the private sector, but economy-wide, this increase barely makes a dent.