US unemployment edges up in May to 8.2 per cent
Unemployment rate in the US edged to 8.2 per cent from 8.1 per cent in the previous month with just 69,000 more Americans getting jobs in May, belying expectations of analysts, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
Employment increased in health care, transportation and warehousing, and wholesale trade but declined in construction. Employment was little changed in most other major industries.
The total number of unemployed remained at 12.7 million. The rate of job creation in May was the lowest in the past 11 months, with the majority of analysts expecting more than 150,000 jobs to be created last month.
Labor force participation remains near 30-year lows though incrementally better than last month, rising to 63.8 per cent.
The unemployment rate that counts discouraged workers rose as well, swelling to 14.8 per cent from 14.5 per cent in the previous month.
The long-term unemployed, defined as those who have been looking for work for more than 27 weeks, rose from 5.1 million in April to 5.4 million in May, accounting for 42.58 per cent of all unemployed workers. The average duration of unemployment rose from 39.1 weeks to 39.7 weeks.
The unemployment rate remained high for minorities, coming in at 11 per cent for Hispanics and 13.6 per cent for blacks. The unemployment rate for men was at 7.8 per cent, while the unemployment rate for women was 7.4 per cent.
The civilian labor force participation rate increased in May by 0.2 percentage point to 63.8 per cent, offsetting a decline of the same amount in April. The employment-population ratio edged up to 58.6 per cent in May.
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) edged up to 8.1 million over the month.
These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.
The White House expressed disappointment over the data.
"We'd like to see faster job growth. We have a large hole in jobs right now because of job losses than happened during the recession," said Alan Krueger, the chairman of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers reported Reuters Insider.
Manufacturing employment continued to trend up in May following a similar
change in April. Job gains averaged 41,000 per month in the first quarter of this year. In May, employment rose in fabricated metal products and in primary metals.
Since its most recent low in January 2010, manufacturing employment has increased by 495,000.
Construction employment declined by 28,000 in May, more so in specialty trade contractors and in heavy and civil engineering construction. Since reaching a low in January 2011, employment in construction has shown little change on net.
Similarly employment in professional and business services was essentially unchanged in May. Since the most recent low point in September 2009, employment in this industry has grown by 1.4 million.
Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, retail trade, information, financial activities, leisure and hospitality, and government, changed little in May.
Source: United States News.Net
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