May Jobs Report Slows

The economy gained a mere 54,000 jobs in the month of May, a significant slowdown from 232,000 jobs added to payrolls in April, the government recently reported. This is a major disappointment to many economists who were expecting a gain of 170,000 jobs, according to a CNNMoney.com survey.

The unemployment rate worsened to 9.1% from 9% in April. Economists had predicted the rate would improve to 8.9%. “It is now pretty clear that the economy ran into a brick wall last month,” said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist for Capital Economics, in a research note. “The extent of this slowdown is becoming a big concern.”

The report included other signs of growing pains for the unemployed. The number of jobless who have been out of work for more than six months jumped by 361,000, bringing the average number of weeks the unemployed job seekers have been out of work to just under 40 weeks, a record high.

But some optimists cautioned not to read too much into one report that was admittedly a major disappointment.

“There are always ebbs and flows to the jobs market,” said Scot Melland, CEO of Dice Holdings, a provider of career websites. “One month does not a trend make. This comes on the back of three strong months of jobs growth.” ◆