Jobs Report Indicates Economic Cool Down

Weak employment gains in May (only 75,000 net new jobs) may be a sign of a faltering economy. According to NYT: “Anything below about 150,000 net new jobs a month is regarded as too slow to keep up with population growth, so in effect, workers are losing ground.”

NYT:

Jobs Report Signals Cooling Economy

By JEREMY W. PETERS
Published: June 2, 2006

The American economy added a surprisingly weak number of jobs in May, a sign that nervousness over a cooling economy may be spreading among the nation’s employers.

The net increase in nonfarm payrolls in May—75,000—is a significant falloff from April, when the Labor Department estimates that 126,000 jobs were added, a figure it revised downward today from the 138,000 it initially reported.

Anything below about 150,000 net new jobs a month is regarded as too slow to keep up with population growth, so in effect, workers are losing ground.

The Labor Department statistics were the latest in a series of recent reports pointing to a slowdown in the expansion of the economy.
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