The US unemployment level edged down in June by 0.2%, dropping to its lowest level since September 2008, to stand at 6.1%. June saw the US economy add 288000 jobs, according to data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data is being taken as evidence that the Q1 GDP fall of 2.9% was indeed a blip, caused by the exceptionally hard winter weather, and that the US economy will have bounced back to growth in Q2 when the data becomes available shortly.
Job creation was particularly good in the business services and professional sector which was 67000 new post created in June. The retail sector was also strongly up with 40000 new hires being taken on. This implies that employers within the retail sector are increasingly confident that consumer demand is strong and sustainable. 70% of US goods and services are consumed by the domestic market. The manufacturing sector also saw significant new positions opened in June.
The hourly wage figure picked up by a further 0.2% in June and has increased by 2% during the past twelve months.
The decline in unemployment seen in June was believed to be real, i.e. more people are actually in work than was the case in May, rather than being due to a decline in the number of people actively seeking work (you have to be actively seeking work to be considered as unemployed). The labour force participation rate held steady at 62.8%.
Long term unemployment, defined as workers who have been idle for 27 weeks or more, dipped by 293000 in June, but more than 3.1 million Americans fall into this category, roughly representing one in three of America’s unemployed.