Unemployment Still at 8.2%, Only 80,000 New Jobs in June
According to a Labor Department report released on Friday, very few U.S. jobs have been added in June. Non-farm payrolls increased by only 80,000 last month, fewer than expected and showing a poor second quarter for 2012. The average monthly jobs created were only 75,000, compared to 226,000 in the first quarter of 2012.
According to the report, 47,000 jobs have been added in the professional and business services last month. More than 11,000 jobs have been added to the manufacturing sector, and more than 13,000 and 9,000 jobs have been added to health care and wholesale trade, respectively. Employment in other major industries, including construction, mining and logging, financial activities, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, leisure and hospitality, and government, showed fewer or no change.
The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 8.2%, with the number of unemployed persons at 12.7 million; however, the job growth declined in almost every sector of the country.
This is the third straight month that there was a slow hiring rate in the U.S.
On the other hand, the average work week grew to 34.5 hours from 34.4 hours in May. Moreover, the average hourly earnings for the employees rose by 6 cents to $23.50, a 2% increase in average hourly earnings over the year. The average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees have also increased by 5 cents, to $19.74.
Hilda L. Solis, Secretary of Labor, stated on the June 2012 Employment Situation report as follows:
“We have seen 28 straight months of private sector job growth, during which time our economy has added back close to 4.4 million private sector jobs, with nearly one million jobs added this year. We have added an average of 150,000 private sector jobs per month in 2012, continuing at the same steady pace as last year and with jobs being created across all sectors and regions of the country. Gross domestic product growth has now been positive for 11 consecutive quarters. We remain on a path toward stable and durable growth.”
“While the private sector is creating jobs and corporate profits have never been higher, a big drag on our economy is the continued layoffs of teachers, firefighters and police officers. We should embrace the president’s proposal to put these Americans back to work, while giving additional tax cuts to small businesses that are key contributors to job creation.” Solis added.
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