The economy added a surprisingly large number of jobs in June, the government reported this morning.
Non-farm payrolls went up 287,000 during the month and the unemployment rate rose to 4.9 percent – mostly because more people were entering the workforce, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
“This was the 68th consecutive month of year-over-year gains, and provides a welcome sign that the U.S. economy is healthy despite concerns over the health of the global economy,” said Ralph McLaughlin, cheif economist for Trulia, a San Francisco-based research firm.
Yet after all this time, the job market is still not entirely recovered from the devastating effects of the recession that started at the end of 2007. But we are getting there, according to the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution: If the economy can add an avereage of 204,000 jobs per month, the economy will reach pre-recession employment levels by next April.
Today's report was the strongest month of national job growth since October. There has been concern about a slowdown in the economy and a chill in hiring. Job growth of less than 200,000 had been widely expected, so today's report may turn down the volume on worry for another month.
Of course, it might also get the Federal Reserve thinking about raising rates again — something they have delayed over concern that the economy was already under pressure.
About the rising rate: Although in general, it’s a bad thing to have the unemployment rate on the rise, sometimes a lower rate is bad news, sometime a higher rate is a good sign.
A month ago, the jobless rate dropped because so many people had apparently gotten discouraged and stopped looking for work. This month, the opposite seems to have happened – seemingly because people were more encouraged about job possibilities.
The result was an increase in the unemployment rate from 4.7 percent in May to 4.9 percent in June.
Of course, it's not exactly great news since it also means more people officially unemployed: there are now about 7.78 million Americans jobless and searching for work. And that doesn't count people who would like a job, but are not actively looking for one.
Moreover, the previous data was revised to show that the May numbers were even worse than originalliy reported. Just 11,000 jobs were added during the month, not the 38,000 first reported. So if next month's report shows unemployment continuing to climb, that would be a troubling omen.
One other positive was the decline in the number of people who were working part-time even though they really wanted full-time work.
The jobs report for Georgia will be released by the state Department of Labor later this month.
