Weakness, unfortunately, permeates the June jobs report!
It’s likely when President Obama steps before the microphone today he will tout the fact that the economy added over 200,000 jobs and that the unemployment rate ticked down to 5.3% from 5.5%.
Some in the media will also focus on the two headline numbers without checking the level of the oil under the hood…
Washington Post: ‘The U.S. labor market added a solid 223,000 jobs in June, according to fresh government data released Thursday morning, signaling an economy that is regaining some stability after a sputtering start to the year.‘
New York Times: ‘The American economy entered the summer powered by a decent head of steam, as employers added 223,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent.‘
But those two numbers, unfortunately, do not tell the whole story concerning the overall strength of the employment situation in the U.S.
Tale Of The Tape
These were the expectations…
- Non-farm payrolls: +233,000
- Unemployment rate: 5.4%
- Average hourly earnings, month-on-month: +0.2%
- Average hourly earnings, year-on-year: +2.3%
Here are the actual numbers from the June jobs report…
- Non-farm payrolls: +223,000
- Unemployment rate: 5.3%
- Average hourly earnings, month-on-month: +0%
- Average hourly earnings, year-on-year: +2.0%
Equally concerning is that the labor force participation rate fell to a level not seen since 1977, 62.6%, and that the workforce contracted by 432,000 jobs.
Additionally, the non-farm payroll numbers for April and May were revised down 60,000.
Finally, for real estate professionals the fact that construction jobs added no jobs at all is some cause for concern.
Hopefully next month will be better!
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Article author Michael Haltman is the President of Hallmark Abstract Service in New York.
HAS is a provider of title insurance in New York State for residential and commercial real estate transactions.
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