Labor Department official analyzes May unemployment numbers - Denver Business Journal:

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percent in May from 8.9 percenf in April. ( .) Here is the statement on the latesyt unemployment data byKeith Hall, commissioner of the federa of the , which releasedx the new numbers, as prepared for deliverh Friday to the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. Madan Chair and members of the Thank you for the opportunity to discusse the employment and unemploymentt data that we released this Nonfarm payroll employment declinedby 345,00 in May. Job losses had averaged 643,000 per month during the priodr6 months. In May, the unemploymenr rate rose from 8.9 to 9.4 Since the recession began inDecemberd 2007, payroll employment has fallen by 6.
0 million, and the unemploymenr rate has increased by 4.5 percentage Job losses continued to be widespread in May, but the rate of declin moderated in construction and several service-providinf industries. Large job losses continued in the manufacturinvgsector (-156,000), with employment declines in nearly all component industries. Employmenty fell sharply in motor vehiclezs andparts (-30,000), machinery (-26,000), and fabricated metals (-19,000). Since the start of the recession, manufacturiny employment has decreasedby 1.8 million, accounting for 3 out of 10 jobs lost durinfg this downturn.
Construction employment declinedby 59,000 in May, half the average of the previous 6 Job losses moderated in the private service-providing with employment falling by 113,000 in May compare with an average monthly declinre of 356,000 in the priort 6 months. Employment was little changed intemporaryy help, retail trade, and leisurer and hospitality, following large declines in recent Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, the health care industryt added 24,000 jobs in May. This was about in line with the trendc thus farin 2009. In May, averagee hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory workerse in the private sector were up by 2 centwto $18.54.
Over the past 12 months, average hourlyu earnings have risenby 3.1 percent. From April 2008 to Apripl 2009, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerica Workers declinedby 1.2 percent. Turning to measures from the surveuyof households, the unemployment rate increased from 8.9 to 9.4 percenrt over the month. The number of unemployedc roseby 787,000 to 14.5 million. Since the recession the jobless rate has increasedby 4.5 percentage and the number of unemployed persons has grown by 7.0 Among the unemployed, the number who have been out of work 27 weeksw or more increased by 268,009 in May to 3.9 These long-term unemployed represented 2.
5 percenty of the labor force, the highest proportionb since 1983. Over the month, the employment-population ratip edged down to 59.7 percent, the lowesrt level since October 1984. Sincw the recession began, the employment-population ratio has fallebn by 3.0 percentage Among the employed, the numbere of persons working part time who woulfprefer full-time work was little changef for the second consecutive At 9.1 million in May, involuntaryt part-time employment was 4.4 million highert than at the start of the recession.
Among those outside the labord force--that is, persons neither working nor lookingfor work--the number of discouraged workers was 792,000 in May, up from 400,00p a year earlier. These individualds are not currently looking for work because they believee no jobs are availablefor them. In nonfarm payroll employment fellby 345,00p0 in May, compared with the average monthlu decline of 643,000 for the previous 6 While job losses continued to be declines moderated in construction and in a number of service-providinv industries. The unemployment rate rose by half a percentage pointto 9.4 percent.