US hiring grinds to a near-halt; many stop looking for work

[rooster59]

US hiring grinds to a near-halt; many stop looking for work

CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writer
JOSH BOAK, AP Economics Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. hiring slowed to a near-standstill in May, sowing doubts about the economy's health and complicating the Federal Reserve's efforts to raise interest rates.

While unemployment slid from 5 percent to 4.7 percent, the lowest since November 2007, the rate fell for a troubling reason: Nearly a half-million jobless Americans stopped looking for work and so were no longer counted as unemployed.

Employers added just 38,000 jobs in May, the fewest in over five years.

Less-educated workers bore the brunt of the hiring slump, with a quarter-million high school dropouts losing their jobs in May. That has perpetuated a long-term trend toward a two-tiered job market, with college-educated adults more likely to be employed and earning steady raises.

"The shockingly low payrolls gain in May provides further evidence that the economy is showing clear signs of slowing," said Laura Rosner, an economist at BNP Paribas.

The much-weaker-than-expected figure raised doubts that the Federal Reserve will increase short-term interest rates at its next meeting in mid-June or perhaps even at its subsequent meeting in July. Many analysts had expected an increase by July.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 32 points, for a loss of 0.2 percent.

The disappointing report spilled into the presidential race, with Donald Trump referring to it on Twitter as a "terrible jobs report" and a "bombshell." The figures come just days after President Barack Obama touted his economic record in Elkhart, Indiana.

Americans particularly worried about the economy have been more likely to support outsider candidates such as Trump and Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Trump's support has also come disproportionately from adults without college degrees, and Friday's report served as a stark reminder that less-educated Americans have continued to lose economic ground even as overall hiring and growth have picked up since the Great Recession.

Essentially all of the 7 million jobs added over the past decade belong to workers with at least some college experience. The number of high school graduates with jobs is 3 million lower than 10 years ago.

"The high school jobs are gone and they're not coming back," said Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and Workforce. "It's driven by a fundamental shift from an industrial economy to a post-industrial economy."

Craig Lloyd, 27, has mostly worked part-time jobs in restaurants in Wichita, Kansas, since graduating from high school 10 years ago. Some paid as little as minimum wage, while his most recent position as a sous-chef paid $12 an hour.

Three months ago, he started his own business selling burritos out of a friend's food truck on weekends.

His wife is returning to school to get her degree, but he doesn't plan to do so himself. "I've really put off getting a higher education, because of the debt that you can incur," Lloyd said.

The hiring stall could be temporary, economists noted. There have been hiring lulls before in the seven-year recovery.

But job gains in March and April were also revised downward on Friday, leaving average monthly hiring at a pace of just 116,000 in the past three months. That's sharply below last year's average of nearly 230,000.

The share of Americans who are working or searching for jobs — a figure known as the labor force participation rate — fell in May to 62.6 percent, near a four-decade low.

Separately, Lael Brainard, a Fed board member and ally of Chair Janet Yellen, signaled Friday that the Fed should be in no hurry to act, especially after the bleak jobs report.

The Fed meets next on June 14-15. Economists now see little chance of a rate increase at that time. The Fed raised the short-term rate last December after holding it at nearly zero for seven years.

Fed officials may not keep investors guessing for long: Yellen will speak Monday in a closely watched address that may show how she has interpreted Friday's report.

The May job gain was lowered by the Verizon workers' strike, which depressed hiring in the telecom sector by 37,000.

In addition, manufacturers, construction companies and temporary help agencies all shed jobs. Retailers, hotels and restaurants added jobs, but at a slower pace than in recent months.

Employers probably cut back on hiring after the economy grew at just a 0.8 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter.

Yet Friday's dismal jobs report was a surprise in part because most recent economic reports have been encouraging: Consumer spending surged in April. Home sales and construction have also increased. Sales of new homes reached an eight-year high in April.

Most economists expect growth will rebound in the April-June quarter to about a 2.5 percent annual pace.

-- (c) Associated Press 2016-06-04

[NeverSure]

This is the Obama recovery we've been lied to about. It's the slowest economic recovery since WWII. That guy has got to go. He loves to ship jobs to other countries and bring in foreign "workers". Get him the hell out of here.

Cheers.

[Boon Mee]

This is the Obama recovery we've been lied to about. It's the slowest economic recovery since WWII. That guy has got to go. He loves to ship jobs to other countries and bring in foreign "workers". Get him the hell out of here.

Cheers.

This is why Crooked Hillary is in trouble with Blue Collar Dems.

To wit:

Blue Collar Democrats Turn Against Hillary Clinton Over Radical Islam, Loss of US Manufacturing Base

http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/06/03/blue-collar-democrats-turn-against-hillary-clinton-over-radical-islam-loss-of-us-manufacturing-base/

The Democratic Party has lost the election + the plot as well!

[neverdie]

This is the Obama recovery we've been lied to about. It's the slowest economic recovery since WWII. That guy has got to go. He loves to ship jobs to other countries and bring in foreign "workers". Get him the hell out of here.

Cheers.

You can't keep kicking the can down the road old mate, eventually all the chickens will come home to roost.

[impulse]

I wouldn't trust a single number that comes out of Washington between now and election day.

(Election Day in 2024, that is...)

[Boon Mee]

^

The number of 94 million + folks out of work isn't a made up number...

[Boon Mee]

8th Month in a Row: More than 25 Million Foreign-Born People Employed in U.S.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/06/03/8th-month-row-25-million-foreign-born-people-employed-u-s/

Thank those Silicon VAlley folks like Zuck, Ellison, Gates etc...

Don't forget Disney as well.

[Dustdevil]

This is the Obama recovery we've been lied to about. It's the slowest economic recovery since WWII. That guy has got to go. He loves to ship jobs to other countries and bring in foreign "workers". Get him the hell out of here.

Cheers.

I see you have absolutely no knowledge of what you're talking about.

Obama's accomplishments

1. created 14 million jobs

2. Cut unemployment by half

3. 17 million more with health coverage

4. Global climate pact

And how was the economy when Boy Wonder Dubya was in power?

[ggt]

Just as the hiring grinds to a halt...so will the economy one day...the Fed is powerless to keep the ponzi scheme of pouring money into the market while dropping interest rates to near zero going...it has not jump started the economy...has lessened the value of the dollar and like a sinking ship...other countries are trying to get rid of their US bonds and dollars...

I could see the US sinking into the abyss...following in the footsteps of Venezuela....people starving, digging thru garbage cans, high-jacking food trucks, and rioting in the streets...

Add this to the tension among the races and all hell could break loose in the US one day...

[up2u2]

I am sure building a Wall along the Mexican border, removing and closing the borders to Muslims, rounding up 11M Hispanics from the country, removing all judges with foreign descent from the Bench, torturing people, targeting innocent civilians, making abortions illegal, escalating military conflicts in the Middle East will put an end to the US economic woes.

[oxo1947]

US hiring grinds to a near-halt; many stop looking for work---OP

How do you stop looking for work ? I mean in the countries I have lived in for any length of time 5 (other than Thailand) you get assistance when unemployed---that stops if you stop looking for work--isn't it the same in USA ??

[maewang99]

Love living in such a simple little world where one black guy named Obama is responsible for 300,000,000 people finding or looking for employment and Ronald Reagan gave birth to 80,000,000 male and female baby boomers, with both sexes fully employed in their prime working years in the 1980's and 1990's but..... it was Ronald Reagan that did that.. and now we have the horrible Obama.... and climate change is a Chinese hoax. Maybe the Chinese have a much better system. Is that why that is now a favorite topic instead of the things we really need to do something about? The ice sheets in West Antarctica weren't put there by little Chinese guys.

Edited June 4, 2016 by maewang99

[JohnDodd]

The main stream media and their evasions of the truth, all the above data is BS, there is no recovery, and there is not going to be one. That Neo-Con gang in Washington will be lucky if they are brought to trial, when we get to the Truth of the 29 redacted pages of the Official 9/11 Report, and find out the real culprits of that Day of Infamy, there wont be enough lampost's available to do real Justice.

[impulse]

US hiring grinds to a near-halt; many stop looking for work---OP

How do you stop looking for work ? I mean in the countries I have lived in for any length of time 5 (other than Thailand) you get assistance when unemployed---that stops if you stop looking for work--isn't it the same in USA ??

It is in most places. Varies by state, and in some case, by locality. But the assistance doesn't go on forever, whether you're looking or not.

And the converse is also true in many cases: Once the unemployment benefits end, there's no further need to keep going through the motions that you're looking.

So a lot of people just give up.

[wonder6281]

This is the Obama recovery we've been lied to about. It's the slowest economic recovery since WWII. That guy has got to go. He loves to ship jobs to other countries and bring in foreign "workers". Get him the hell out of here.

Cheers.

I see you have absolutely no knowledge of what you're talking about.

Obama's accomplishments

1. created 14 million jobs

2. Cut unemployment by half

3. 17 million more with health coverage

4. Global climate pact

And how was the economy when Boy Wonder Dubya was in power?

Surely you don't belive all this rubbish like all the other dumb downed sheeple. The US is in her worst state in 8 years. She is in recession heading for collapse!

[wonder6281]

With over 100 million receiving some sort of government assistance says it all. 4.7% unemployment is just Obama peddling fiction once again. The only President since Hoover not to achieve 3% GDP. Some recovery.

[impulse]

This is the Obama recovery we've been lied to about. It's the slowest economic recovery since WWII. That guy has got to go. He loves to ship jobs to other countries and bring in foreign "workers". Get him the hell out of here.

Cheers.

I see you have absolutely no knowledge of what you're talking about.

Obama's accomplishments

1. created 14 million jobs

2. Cut unemployment by half

3. 17 million more with health coverage

4. Global climate pact

And how was the economy when Boy Wonder Dubya was in power?

Surely you don't belive all this rubbish like all the other dumb downed sheeple. The US is in her worst state in 8 years. She is in recession heading for collapse!

So, what you're saying is that the USA is in the worst state it's been in since GWB turned the reins over to Obama?

Not exactly sure what the implications are of that statement.

[Thaidream]

While Obama inherited a mess from the prior administration his response to the economic malaise has been weak. It is the same situation as Japan has found itself in for a decade. The US has switched to a service economy due to the fact that manufacturing has left the country and the US Congress has allowed it to happen due to tax breaks which allow companies to relocate abroad. These companies have huge amounts of capital parked offshore and won't bring it back. In addition, the US has ben flooded with immigrants who will take low paying jobs and Americans end up working in call centers at the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour which is not a living wage.

There are so many things wrong in America that one could write a book and not cover them all. Most of it is caused by an incompetent Congress that refuses to go after the wealthy and greedy businesses and banks that continue to exploit the middle class and increase the people who become poor in America. While Obama has been better than Bush he is still beholden to Corporate America. He had the rare opportunity of actually getting a real universal healthcare program for Americans. Instead he caved into the Insurance companies and Big Pharma and now have a program where people are losing their insurance because they cannot afford the premiums and are then being penalized by the Revenue Department for not having health insurance. A losing situation if ever there was one.. In addition, the US has a huge military budget at $630 Billion and an Intelligence Budget that is in the billions in which they see terrorists behind every tree.Both of these have to be cut substantially and the troops brought home.Add in the fact that University graduates are in debt to the government for decades and cannot find jobs that pay them what they are worth due to a greedy business culture that drives salaries down and not upward. Sure- a 4.7% unemployment rate sounds good except when you see the rate is based upon people dropping out of the workforce and job holders taking minimum wage jobs. America haas become a country where 1% of the population is wealthy and the other 99% struggling to stay afloat.

The reason Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are popular is they represent a hope they can change all this. In my opinion Sanders would be the change agent needed because Trump is beholden to the wealthy as is Clinton. I do know that the American public is in a situation that they will not allow the current state of America to continue as it is. Either the politicians do something to make the needed changes or the people themselves will do something and it won't be pretty. The clock is ticking.

[wabothai]

Just as the hiring grinds to a halt...so will the economy one day...the Fed is powerless to keep the ponzi scheme of pouring money into the market while dropping interest rates to near zero going...it has not jump started the economy...has lessened the value of the dollar and like a sinking ship...other countries are trying to get rid of their US bonds and dollars...

I could see the US sinking into the abyss...following in the footsteps of Venezuela....people starving, digging thru garbage cans, high-jacking food trucks, and rioting in the streets...

Add this to the tension among the races and all hell could break loose in the US one day...

That is what the guys "up there" want and working hard towards. The signs on the wall are everywhere.

there would be a lot less tension if these guys were to be "removed' .

[Thaidream]

There are many politicians, wealthy. and other vested interests that want the races to be at each other and bigotry and ignorance to prevail. That keeps the poor and middle class from a united assault on the real things that could move America forward. If you are a poor white person; Hispanic or black- you all have one thing in common- being poor. The motto for the US is E Pluribus Unum- Out of many- One. Once the populace really understands this- things will change.

[mike324]

The next crash people predict will be due to massive student loans....it is over $1Trillion - yes TRILLION !!!!

Over 70% of the students are in debt, and this has an effect on consumption and spending to drive the economy.

To curb the employment problem, the US needs to limit the amount of work visas given out, the other part of the problem is that many citizens don't want to work these minimum wage jobs.

[Pinot]

Leave it to the AP to put the worst possible spin on the job numbers. The wingnuts are ecstatic because the only way Trump has a prayer is if the economy falls of the table. That's not what's happening but if you're a low-info Fox News junkie, that's what you're wallowing in.

Sorry but the Obama sky is not falling.

The numbers on consumer spending, industrial production and housing point to the US economy gathering speed.

On Friday, the Commerce Department said goods exports rebounded strongly in April and orders for manufactured goods recorded their biggest gain in six months. The sharp slowdown in employment last month was probably the result of unseasonably warm weather boosted hiring in February and March.

Is the glass half empty or half full? If you're a wingnut you just want to crush the glass back into sand.

On a personal note, my investments all took a healthy bump up as the stock market rallied as a result of Yellen probably having to hold off on an interest rate bump for a long time.

Edited June 4, 2016 by Pinot

[Boon Mee]

^

Why does the new Bureau of Labor Statistics report lays bare the record over 94 million Americans absent from the labor force?

[bamukloy]

Why should they work the minimum pay jobs?

To make the rich even richer and for them to keep on struggling?

Who can blame them if they stay at home with mum and dad and not want to be part of a rotten system.

The world is on the brink of overpopulation if you believe the naysayers.

Maybe these dire figures and stats will help correct that

[elgordo38]

This is the Obama recovery we've been lied to about. It's the slowest economic recovery since WWII. That guy has got to go. He loves to ship jobs to other countries and bring in foreign "workers". Get him the hell out of here.

Cheers.

This is why Crooked Hillary is in trouble with Blue Collar Dems.

To wit:

Blue Collar Democrats Turn Against Hillary Clinton Over Radical Islam, Loss of US Manufacturing Base

http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/06/03/blue-collar-democrats-turn-against-hillary-clinton-over-radical-islam-loss-of-us-manufacturing-base/

The Democratic Party has lost the election + the plot as well!

Latest poll numbers Hillary opens up a double digit lead against the Donald. I guess the windbag with his repeat slamming of others is finally getting slammed himself. A pair of misfits duking it out.

[JHolmesJr]

This is the Obama recovery we've been lied to about. It's the slowest economic recovery since WWII. That guy has got to go. He loves to ship jobs to other countries and bring in foreign "workers". Get him the hell out of here.

Cheers.

Any leader who does this is a traitor to his countrymen….period.

[elgordo38]

You just have to love the economist spin doctors Quote The hiring stall could be temporary, economists noted. There have been hiring lulls before in the seven-year recovery.

But job gains in March and April were also revised downward on Friday, leaving average monthly hiring at a pace of just 116,000 in the past three months. That's sharply below last year's average of nearly 230,000.

The share of Americans who are working or searching for jobs — a figure known as the labor force participation rate — fell in May to 62.6 percent, near a four-decade low. unquote The stall could be temporary what planet are they living on. March and April ratcheded down labor force participation the lowest in 4 decades yeah sure temporary that covers it up just fine.

[elgordo38]

8th Month in a Row: More than 25 Million Foreign-Born People Employed in U.S.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/06/03/8th-month-row-25-million-foreign-born-people-employed-u-s/

Thank those Silicon VAlley folks like Zuck, Ellison, Gates etc...

Don't forget Disney as well.

I think we are quite aware of the Disney factor. We have been living in a Disney world environment for decades.

[up2u2]

Surely you don't belive all this rubbish like all the other dumb downed sheeple. The US is in her worst state in 8 years. She is in recession heading for collapse!

With over 100 million receiving some sort of government assistance says it all. 4.7% unemployment is just Obama peddling fiction once again. The only President since Hoover not to achieve 3% GDP. Some recovery.

Where do you guys get this drivel from? Do you read it or just make it up?

The US has not been in recession other than the W Bush GFC aftermath. Unless you have a Crystal Ball the US is not even close to a recession the last 27 quarters have shown positive growth bar two slight negative quarters.

10 quarters showed +3% GDP Growth. 6 quarters showed 4% and above.

It borders on delusional.

[elgordo38]

Love living in such a simple little world where one black guy named Obama is responsible for 300,000,000 people finding or looking for employment and Ronald Reagan gave birth to 80,000,000 male and female baby boomers, with both sexes fully employed in their prime working years in the 1980's and 1990's but..... it was Ronald Reagan that did that.. and now we have the horrible Obama.... and climate change is a Chinese hoax. Maybe the Chinese have a much better system. Is that why that is now a favorite topic instead of the things we really need to do something about? The ice sheets in West Antarctica weren't put there by little Chinese guys.

Its high time for a dislike button. Reagan was an actor lets leave it at that.