JUNE EMPLOYMENT UPDATE By Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger
The June Employment situation was met with mixed emotions in the business world.
The private payroll sector increased by 57,000 and the unemployment rate ticked up to 9.2%. Despite the steady addition of jobs in the private sector, it is evident that economic growth is slowing down. The unemployment rate is unacceptably high. There needs to be action taken to stimulate job growth; perhaps extend the payroll tax cut, pass the pending free trade agreements, create an infrastructure bank to help to put Americans back to work. There is also a need for a balanced approach to deficit reduction that instills confidence and allows us to live within our means without shortchanging future growth.
Overall, payroll employment rose by just 18,000 in June. Those sectors that had the largest increase were hospitality and leisure (+34,000), health care (+13,500) and manufacturing (+6,000). Those areas that saw an employment reduction were government (-39,000), financial activities (-15,000) and construction (-9,000).
President Obama spoke on the job situation on Friday from the rose garden at the White House. His first priority is to get the economy on a sounder footing more broadly so that the American people can have the security that they deserve. There is a long way to go and a lot of work to do. The recession has cost us more than $8 million. Contributing factors to the downturn in the economy are natural disasters, spikes in gas prices, state and local budget cuts, problems in Greece and in Europe and uncertainty over whether the debt limit in the United States will be raised. He is willing to roll up his sleeves and get to work to put us on solid ground and take steps towards consistent economic recovery.
U.S. stocks posted broad losses on Friday, July 8th. Twenty three of the thirty Dow members ended on a negative note with Bank of America and General Electric leading the pack.
On a more positive note, government bonds did well and gold prices rose.
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