The percentage of Americans participating in the U.S. workforce remains the lowest its been in decades, but the economy did add 217,000 non-farm jobs in May, slightly more than economists were expecting, according to numbers released Friday morning by The Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The labor participation rate is the variable that makes unemployment numbers only part of the story. When people go a long time without being able to find a job, they often give up. At that point, they are no longer counted as “unemployed,” when by any practical measure they still are. That explains, though, why it is possible for the unemployment rate to go down, even though there are actually fewer people working.
The labor participation rate also explains why U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) was less than impressed with today’s jobs numbers being touted by the Obama Administration. Sessions spouted off a list of statistics that paint a bleak picture of the U.S. economy under President Obama’s leadership.
Here’s what he had to say:
Today’s jobs numbers are only enough to tread even with population growth, maintaining unemployment at 6.3 percent. When you include discouraged workers, the unemployment rate doubles to an alarming 12.2 percent. There are still 3.2 million fewer full-time employed persons than there were in 2007.
Since President Obama came into office in 2009, 7.2 million people have left the workforce entirely. One out of every six men aged 25–54 is not working. Employment in this group fell by 72,000 last month, while the number of employed women aged 25–54 fell by 37,000.
Meanwhile, the workforce participation rate for women is at its lowest level in 23 years. Median household income is down almost $2,300 from what it was when the President took office. Real wages are lower than they were in 1999. Growth in the first quarter of this year was negative.
But some economists say there are some positive signs that the economy is slowly but surely moving in the right direction.
Over the past year, the number of “long-term unemployed” Americans — those who have been without a job for more than 27 weeks — has decreased by almost 1 million. That number remained steady at 3.4 million in May.
7.3 million Americans are currently working part-time because their hours have been cut or because they simply cannot find a full time job. Many economists have said this problem, known as “underemployment,” has been exacerbated by ObamaCare. The president’s healthcare law mandates that many businesses offer health insurance to full-time workers, defined as any employee working over 30-hours per week, starting in 2015. In preparations for this new regulation, businesses have already started capping the hours of some of their employees to stay below that threshold.
But the total un- and under-employed workers has dropped a full percentage point over the last year, from 13.4 percent in May of 2013, to the 12.2 percent that Sen. Sessions referenced today.
Additionally, the healthcare industry added 34,000 jobs in May, which is the twice as many as it has averaged over the previous 12 months. That’s good news for a city like Birmingham where the healthcare industry is a huge part of the local economy.
But economic growth in the nation as a whole continues to move at a snail’s pace.
“These numbers are grim and make clear that this economy is nowhere close to performing at an acceptable level,” Sen. Sessions concluded.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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