TheWashingtonExaminer: The U.S. economy added just 69,000 jobs in May, well below expectations of 150,000 job gains, according to a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Not only did BLS report terrible numbers for May, but it made downward revisions to previous months job growth numbers, which were already considered weak. The economy is now said to have added 143,000 jobs in March (instead of 154,000) and just 77,000 jobs in April (instead of 115,000).
The unemployment rate crept up slightly to 8.2 percent.
Here's more expanding on those revisions, set to rising unemployment & a sinking GDP...
LosAngelesTimes: Adding to the dreary economic news, the government said in a separate report Thursday that U.S. gross domestic product grew at a slower pace in the first quarter than previously thought. Growth in GDP, the total value of goods and services produced in the nation, was revised down to an annualized rate of 1.9% from 2.2% initially estimated a month ago.
The revision by the Commerce Department reflected a smaller increase in consumer spending and inventory building, and a bigger drag on growth from government cuts and the trade deficit. On the positive side, business investments were revised slightly higher.
GDP expanded at an annual rate of 3% in the fourth quarter of last year. Many analysts are expecting GDP growth to remain mediocre this year at about 2.5%, which doesn't bode well for the job market.
I have to chuckle when I hear mention of 'government cuts'! WHERE?! Breitbart picks up that point & poses an interesting comparison:
Compare Reagan's recovery after inheriting an economic crisis to Obama's.
Obama took our money (and China's), decided the government would dictate how it would be spent in the hopes it would "trickle down" to the rest of us, and the failure of this policy is now undeniable.
Now, I've heard some of the excuses out there, and that we need to acknowledge that when more people return to the workforce, the unemployment rate will automatically increase. Certainly. But doesn't that say more about where unemployment in America is at right now?! Folks, hope & change is an economic trainwreck.
