When would losing 345,000 jobs from the economy in a single month seem like a big break? After eight straight months of losing more than 500,000 or 600,000 per month, this month's unemployment numbers put out by the Department of Labor (DOL) must seem like a refreshing change.
According to the DOL figures released June 5, the unemployment rate jumped five-tenths of a point to 9.4 percent in the month of May, slightly higher than economists predicted earlier this week. The bright spot is that the 345,000 jobs lost is almost half the average monthly decline over the previous six months.
DOL information revealed that job losses in manufacturing led the way, while construction and service industries may be showing signs of recovery recovery.
Still the number of unemployed workers jumped by 787,000 to 14.5 million in the month of May, a rise of 7 million since the beginning of the recession in December 2007.
The DOL also reported sharp inequalities by race, ethnicity and age in the unemployment picture. While joblessness has grown at a slightly faster rate for white workers since the end of 2008 than African American workers, the unemployment rate for African Americans hovers at about 15 percent, 73 percent higher than white workers. For Latino workers, unemployment has grown by more than 40 percent since the end of 2008.
While the jobs numbers may be good news for some, the Obama administration has refused to see them in a wholly positive light. President Obama has repeatedly stated he would judge his administration's economic policies as successful only when the economy starts creating jobs again that provide financial stability and security for the working class.
Top economic advisor to Vice President Biden, Jared Bernstein, added last week in a press conference call on the economic recovery that "our administration believes that we are far, far from out of the woods. To us the fact that we're losing fewer jobs is not good news."
In a statement, June 5th, Labor Secretary Solis expressed optimism about the growing impact of the recovery act on job creation. "We are beginning to see signs of the recovery taking hold as the comprehensive plan of the Obama administration continues to reach more and more Americans," she said.
The administration predicts that over the next three months, the injection of money into the economy through the recovery act could save or create as many as 600,000 jobs.
"We continue to be concerned about the high level of unemployment, especially for those who have been out of work an extended period of time," Solis added. "These efforts underscore our top priority to rebuild the economy to get people back to work."
