EMPLOYMENT SITUATION FOR MAY By Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger
Press Release by White House Press Office
Unemployment has always been a topic of concern and scrutiny amongst the public and politicians alike. On Friday, June 3rd, 2011, employment information was released for the month of May.
Private sector payrolls increased by 83,000 in May and the unemployment rate is now at 9.1%. Some of the more positive initiatives that were put into place by President Obama and his administration are the payroll tax cut and business incentives for investment. These have contributed to employment growth but this is only the beginning and there is still a long road to travel.
The private sector added more than 2.1 million jobs over the past 15 months. The plan is to focus on promoting exports, reduce regulatory burdens, invest in education, research and development and infrastructure that will grow the economy and create new jobs.
Two key points of importance that are crucial to the plan for success: reduce the deficit and live within our means.
Employment sectors that saw the greatest increase were professional and business services (+44,000) and education and health services (+34,000). Those sectors that saw a decline were local government (-28,000), retail trade (-8,500) and manufacturing (-5,000).
Even though manufacturing showed a decline, the industry has added 238,000 jobs since the beginning of 2010, the best period of manufacturing job growth in over a decade.
These numbers are transitory and it is difficult to base conclusions solely on one month. However, the economy does show some signs of improvement and does warrant monitoring over the coming months.
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