The US bureau of Labour Statistics released its latest employment data for the month of June and the news is disappointing. Some 80,000 net new jobs were created but this was just enough to absorb a little over half the 128,000 new entrants to the labour force. The headline rate of unemployment remained at 8.2 % which is more or less where its been stuck for the past five months. Unemployment was 8.3 % in February, 2012, 8.2 % in March,8.1% in April and 8.2 % in May.
It is beginning to look that we are stuck in a high unemployment equilibrium for which the only solution is a major fiscal boost of government investment that jolts the private sector into using their large accumulated cash reserves to increase hiring. The Fed is likely to keep interest rates low and may do more quantitative easing but that will not be enough to push the unemployment rate down substantially without a fiscal shot in the arm. The broader measure of unemployment U 6 which includes discouraged workers, those working part-time when they would rather work full time and marginally attached workers actually rose to 14.9 %. 41.9 % of the jobless have been without a paid job for 27 weeks or more. The unemployment rate for teenagers is 23.7 %; for blacks 14.4 %; for whites 7.4 %; for Hispanics 11.0 %;for Asians 6.3 %; for adult men 7.8 5; for adult women 7.4 %. The participation rate is 63.8 %. All data courtesy of the US Bureau of Labour Statistics.
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About haroldchorneyeconomist
I am Professor of political economy at Concordia university in Montréal, Québec, Canada. I received my B.A.Hons (econ.&poli sci) from the University of Manitoba. I also completed my M.A. degree in economics there. Went on to spend two years at the London School of Economics as a Ph.D. student in economics and then completed my Ph.D. in political economy at the University of Toronto. Was named a John W.Dafoe fellow, a CMHC fellow and a Canada Council fellow. I also was named a Woodrow Wilson fellow in 1968 after completing my first class honours undergraduate degree. Worked as an economist in the area of education, labour economics and as the senior economist with the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation for the Government of Manitoba from 1972 to 1978. I also have worked as an economic consultant for MDT socio-economic consultants and have been consulted on urban planning, health policy, linguistic duality and public sector finance questions by the governments of Manitoba, Saskatchewan,the cities of Regina and Saskatoon, Ontario and the Federal government of Canada. I have also been consulted by senior leaders of the British Labour party, MPs from the Progressive Conservative party, the Liberal party and the New Democrats on economic policy questions. Members of the Government of France under the Presidency of Francois Mitterand discussed my work on public sector deficits. I have also run for elected office at the municipal level. I first began to write about quantitative easing as a useful policy option during the early 1980s.
haroldchorneyeconomist 