Economy added 280,000 jobs in May, Latino unemployment at 6.7 percent
*This appears to be good news on almost all counts. [tweet_dis]There was a slight dip in the unemployment rate for Latinos, from 6.9 percent to 6.7 percent.[/tweet_dis] The overall unemployment number increased slightly, to 5.5 percent, but economists see it as a positive development because it includes a higher number of people who have entered the job market – some who had given up finding work are looking once again. The positive jobs number also bodes well for interest rates. The Federal Reserve takes employment – along with other indicators – into account when establishing the benchmark rate. VL
By Ylan Q. Mui, The Washington Post
The labor market continued its resurgence in May, the government reported Friday, with the U.S. economy adding 280,000 jobs. The jobs number beat analysts’ expectations of 225,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate went up a notch to 5.5 percent, but that increase was due to a rise in the number of people entering the workforce for the first time and looking for jobs.
[pullquote]The central bank has kept its key interest rate at zero for more than six years in an effort to boost spending, lending and investment. But amid an improved outlook for the economy, Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said she expects to begin raising that rate this year …[/pullquote]In addition, workers enjoyed solid wage gains in May. Average hourly earnings rose 8 cents to $24.96, though the rate of growth compared to a year ago still hovers around 2 percent.
The job market has become one of the bright spots in the country’s economic recovery after spending years on life support. [tweet_dis]Jobs are being created at the fastest pace since the dot-com boom of the late 1990s[/tweet_dis], government data show. The number of people out of work for at least six months has dropped over the past year, and there are signs that so-called underemployment — people taking jobs that don’t use all their skills — is finally abating.
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[Photo by World Relief Spokane/Flickr]
