Job losses remain severe, but the trend is in the right direction. Employers eliminated 345,000 net payroll jobs in May, less than half of the 741,000 jobs eliminated in January at the trough of the labor market downturn. The education and health services sector added 44,000 jobs, of which 36,400 were in health care and social assistance. The leisure and hospitality sector also was a net gainer with 3,000 jobs created. The unemployment rate rose from 8.9 to 9.4 percent partly because more people, including recent graduates, entered the labor force looking for work. The labor market is a lagging economic indicator. Forward-looking indicators such as consumer confidence and the index of Leading Economic Indicators (covered in last week’s Good News Friday) already are pointing toward recovery. Expect job losses to dwindle gradually in the second half of 2009, setting the stage for a modest rebound next year.
Source: Robert Bach, SVP, Chief Economist, Grubb & Ellis
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June 6, 2009 at 4:58 pm |
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