U.S. employers hired only 54,000 new workers in May as the unemployment rate ticked up to 9.1%, according to a report Friday.
Economists had forecasted job growth of 100,000 in May, a big decline compared to gains averaging 230,000 in the previous three months.
More people entered the work force last month, but new entrants couldn’t find jobs, which attributed to the unemployment increase from 9% in April.
Washington’s desire to cut the deficit instead of pump more money into the economy is also partly to blame for the weak numbers, some analysts say.
“There are reasons to be worried,” Michelle Meyer, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, told the Associated Press. “It appears there’s not much desire to do more in Washington even as the economy weakens.”
Another factor is the sharp rise in gas prices, which now average $3.78, according to AAA. The high fuel costs have kept consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of the economy, from growing faster.
On the heels of the report, President Obama is traveling to Toledo, Ohio, to tout the resurgence of the country’s auto industry.
“We have said from the beginning that the road out of the dark place we were in when this President took office in terms of the economic recession, the depths of the recession we were in, was not going to be smooth every step of the way,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
It also comes as 2012 Republican presidential candidates blame Obama for high unemployment and the struggling economy, one of the biggest hurdles he’ll face in order to win re-election.
During his official bid for the White House on Thursday, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said the president “had his chance” and has “made the recession worse and last longer.”
(Source: NY Daily News)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
4 Responses
It is even worse that statistics show because we are in a time of the year where seasonal work is beginning. Also, if you consider that US makes deals to have tons of students from other countries (particularly Russia) work those seasonal jobs, the stats are even worse.
and yet obama doesnt seem to be doing too badly in the polls how can this be?
Obama’s popularity remains relatively strong because most people believe he cares and those who are most critical of him haven’t come up with any better ideas.
If you want to get rid of Obama, then it’s GOOD news. Prosperity would almost certainly guarantee his reelection, perhaps along with a Democratic Congress.