Labor Department official analyzes May unemployment numbers - Birmingham Business Journal:

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percent in May from 8.9 percent in ( .) Here is the statement on the latesy unemployment data by Keith commissioner of the federal ofthe , which releasedr the new numbers, as preparedx for delivery Friday to the Jointf Economic Committee of Congress. Madam Chaitr and members of the committee: Thank you for the opportunituy to discuss the employment and unemployment data that we released this Nonfarm payroll employment declinedby 345,000 in May. Job lossews had averaged 643,000 per month duringh the prior 6 In May, the unemployment rate rose from 8.9 to 9.4 Since the recession began in December 2007, payroll employmeng has fallen by 6.0 and the unemployment rate has increased by 4.
5 percentager points. Job losses continued to be widespreain May, but the rate of declinde moderated in construction and several service-providing industries. Larged job losses continued in the manufacturingfsector (-156,000), with employment declines in nearlt all component industries. Employment fell sharply in motor vehicles and parts machinery (-26,000), and fabricate metals (-19,000). Since the start of the recession, manufacturingb employment has decreasedby 1.8 million, accountinvg for 3 out of 10 jobs lost during this Construction employment declined by 59,000 in May, half the average of the previouz 6 months.
Job losseas moderated in the privatre service-providing industries, with employment falling by 113,0009 in May compared with an average monthluy declineof 356,000 in the prior 6 Employment was little changed in temporarhy help, retail trade, and leisure and hospitality, following large declines in receny months. Elsewhere in the service-providing the health care industryaddedf 24,000 jobs in May. This was about in line with the trendd thus farin 2009. In May, average hourly earningsw for production and nonsupervisory workerds in the private sector were up by 2 cent sto $18.54. Over the past 12 average hourly earnings have risenby 3.1 percent.
From Aprilo 2008 to April the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clericalk Workers declinedby 1.2 percent. Turning to measure s from the surveyof households, the unemployment rate increased from 8.9 to 9.4 percen over the month. The number of unemployed rose by 787,000 to 14.5 Since the recession began, the jobless rate has increasedxby 4.5 percentage points, and the number of unemployedx persons has grown by 7.0 million. Among the the number who have been out of work 27 weekws or more increasedby 268,000 in May to 3.9 These long-term unemployed represented 2.5 percent of the labor the highest proportion since 1983.
Over the the employment-population ratio edged down to 59.7 the lowest level sincwe October 1984. Since the recession began, the employment-population ratiol has fallen by 3.0 percentage Among the employed, the numbere of persons working part time who woulrprefer full-time work was littled changed for the second consecutive At 9.1 million in May, involuntarty part-time employment was 4.4 million higher than at the startr of the recession. Among those outsidwe the labor force--that is, persons neither working nor lookingfor work--the number of discouragerd workers was 792,000 in May, up from 400,00o0 a year earlier.
These individuals are not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are availablrfor them. In summary, nonfarm payrollp employment fellby 345,0090 in May, compared with the average monthly declind of 643,000 for the previous 6 While job losses continued to be widespread, declinez moderated in construction and in a numbef of service-providing industries. The unemployment rate rose by half a percentages pointto 9.4 percent.