May Jobs Report: Ups and Downs

Winchester, VA – The May jobs report was released on Friday. By all appearances unemployment seems to be decreasing. The Wall Street Journal reports that a net 138,000 jobs were added to the economy. The unemployment rate dropped to its lowest percentage since May 2001, settling out at 4.3%, which sounds good, but with a combination of a .2% drop in the labor force–that would be 429,000 people–, this indicates that the market could be at full employment. Only 62.7% of Americans have jobs or are currently looking for them. The U-6 numbers, which include the unemployed, part-timers wishing to work full-time, and those too discouraged to job hunt, fell to 8.4% Wages have increased only slightly, but diminishing inflation means more money in people’s pockets.