U.S. economy rebounding, with 287,000 jobs added in June
The nation's roller-coaster job market rocketed to a peak in June after plunging even lower than originally reported in May.
The nation's roller-coaster job market rocketed to a peak in June after plunging even lower than originally reported in May.
The U.S. Labor Department's report released Friday morning shows that the nation added an impressive 287,000 jobs in June, a marked contrast to the 38,000 jobs added in May. That number was revised downward on Friday to a meager 11,000.
While economists all agreed that May's meager number was an anomaly, the June report amounted to a giant exhale, as Georgetown University professor and former U.S. Department of Labor chief economist Harry Holzer wrote in an email.
"We can all breathe a big sigh of relief - the job market does not appear to be dramatically slowing," he said.
The unemployment rate still rose from 4.7 percent to 4.9 percent but it reflected that more people were looking for work.
In May, job growth was down in many sectors, but in June, the reverse was true, with rises in manufacturing, retail, financial activities, hospitality, education and health and government at all levels.
"June's strong bounce back from dismal May employment report is good news for workers and the economy," said Eileen Appelbaum, of Philadelphia, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. "High points in today's jobs report include an increase of nearly 30,000 jobs in retail and 22,000 in food service despite a rising minimum wage,"
"Wages rose 2.6 percent compared to a year ago, but this was largely offset by a decrease in benefits," she said. "Unfortunately, the report also included this shocking, bad news: black teen unemployment rose from 23.3 percent in February to 31.2 percent in June."
The report also closes the loop on the Verizon strike, with the growth of 28,000 jobs in the telecommunications sector. That reflects the return of Verizon workers to their jobs, while the May report showed the effect of the strike, which began in April.
June's report marks seven years since June 2009, the official U.S. end of the economy-scarring recession that battered the nation and the world.
Even though the recession was officially over, the pain persisted.
In fact, in June 2009, the nation's payrolls declined by 470,000 jobs, which was better than the terrible month of March, 2009, when 823,000 jobs were lost, the biggest drop during the recession.
The unemployment rate in June 2009 was 9.5 percent, and 16.5 percent when factoring discouraged workers and people working part-time who could find full time work.
Then it got worse, reaching 9.9 percent and 17.1 percent in March 2010.
The nation's total employment continued to fall, with the low point occurring in February, 2010, when the number on payrolls was 129,733,000, compared to this June when there are 144,175,000 on the payrolls.
Even so, the strength of the job market is not yet enough to erase the trauma of the recession.
Yes, straight payroll numbers have rebounded, with 144.2 million jobs, rounded, compared to 138.4 million in December, 2007, when the nation fell into recession.
But that's not the whole story.
Just to stay even, to accommodate population growth, the economy needs to generate roughly 100,000 jobs a month. That break-even number has varied from 150,000 to below 100,000. In December, Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen estimated that fewer than 100,000 are needed.
In the 102 months since the recession started in December 2007, the economy would have had to create 10.2 million jobs just to break even.
At this point, seven years since the end of the recession, the labor market part of the economy is still at least 4.2 million jobs short of fully recovered. To catch up by next year's June anniversary, the economy would have to add about 450,000 jobs a month.
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