May Jobs numbers released this morning show the US adding jobs but at a lower number than expected.
ABC reported this morning:
U.S. employers added 559,000 jobs in May, an improvement from April’s sluggish gain but still evidence that many companies are struggling to find enough workers as the economy rapidly recovers from the pandemic recession.
Last month’s job gain was above April’s revised total of 278,000, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 5.8% from 6.1%.
This may sound positive as the country continues to recover after the 2020 pandemic shutdowns, but the UPI notes that this may not be the case:
The U.S. economy added more than 550,000 jobs during the month of May, the Labor Department said in its monthly report Friday — marking the second straight month the figure did not meet expectations.
The report showed an addition of 559,000 jobs and a decline in the unemployment rate to 5.8%. Most economists projected about 675,000 new jobs…
…Overall, the number of unemployed persons fell by 496,000 to 9.3 million, the report states.
“These measures are down considerably from their recent highs in April 2020 but remain well above their levels prior to the coronavirus pandemic,” the department said in its report.
Friday’s report came after a disappointing performance in April, when analysts expected about 1 million new jobs for the month. The actual figure was 266,000. In March, the economy added more than 900,000 jobs and topped expectations by close to 70,000.