U.S. unemployment rate jumps much higher than expected as employers cut almost
50,000 jobs in May, exposing the weakness in the economy and job market.
The Labor Department announced today that the unemployment rate jumped from 5.0 percent
in April to 5.5 percent in May -- much higher than expected and the biggest one-month rise
in 22 years... since 1986. At 5.5 percent, unemployment is highest it has been since October 2004. A
year ago, the unemployment rate was a full percentage lower at 4.5 percent.
Put into human terms, the number of unemployed people grew by 861,000 in May -- rising to 8.5 million
unemployed adults.
There was a net loss of 49,000 jobs in the economy in May.
With May's job losses, employers have now cut jobs for five straight months.
While airlines have been in the news this week for announcing cutbacks and layoffs,
the biggest losses in May have been the same as in the past few months... 34,000 construction
jobs were lost, 26,000 jobs were cut in manufacturing, and 39,000 jobs were lost in
business and professional services.
In good job news, there were job gains in education and healthcare, government, and leisure and hospitality.
While the media and economists continue to debate whether we are in a recession and whether
recession-proofing your job is a cliche, more and more Americans are feeling the economic
crunch -- either in job losses or in higher food and energy prices and concerns about living
the American Dream.
If you have not already done so, read this article on Quintessential Careers:
Seven Strategies to
Recession-Proof Your Career: Build Your Future Regardless of Health of the Economy.
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