If May is a tipping point that leads to nasty things for the business cycle, it’s not obvious in today’s payrolls report from the Labor Department. Although quite a lot of ink has been spilled in recent weeks about weak numbers from certain sectors in the economy, it appears to be business as usual with jobs creation. Slow growth, in short, continues to persist.
The private sector added a net 178,000 new jobs last month, or roughly in line with expectations. That’s still modest by historical standards, but at least it’s a slight improvement over the past two reports. The headline number that everyone focuses on, which includes government jobs, was only a touch lower, with total payrolls rising by 175,000.
Although analysts move heaven and earth for analyzing payrolls, the plain truth is that the broad trend has remained essentially unchanged through last month. Private payrolls advanced by 1.95% in the year through May, which is more or less what we’ve seen for months. The pace of late has been modestly slower compared with the first half of 2012, but you’d be hard pressed to make the case that rate of increase is deteriorating in any meaningful way.
The main takeaway is that the labor market continues to expand at a modest rate. That’s been true for quite some time and it remains true in today’s update. That’s good news and bad news. It’s certainly encouraging to see the economy creating jobs, but we’re still stuck at a sluggish rate. The month-to-month squiggles inspire fear and hope, depending on the number du jour, but when you step back and consider the overall profile you'll find a rather obvious message in the data: nothing much has changed in the private sector's big picture when it comes to jobs.
- English (UK)
- English (India)
- English (Canada)
- English (Australia)
- English (South Africa)
- English (Philippines)
- English (Nigeria)
- Deutsch
- Español (España)
- Español (México)
- Français
- Italiano
- Nederlands
- Português (Portugal)
- Polski
- Português (Brasil)
- Русский
- Türkçe
- العربية
- Ελληνικά
- Svenska
- Suomi
- עברית
- 日本語
- 한국어
- 简体中文
- 繁體中文
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Bahasa Melayu
- ไทย
- Tiếng Việt
- हिंदी
U.S. Labor Market: Same Old, Same Old
Published 06/07/2013, 02:21 PM
Updated 07/09/2023, 06:31 AM
U.S. Labor Market: Same Old, Same Old
3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or
remove ads
.
Latest comments
Install Our App
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.