The US unemployment rate slightly increased from 9.4% in May 2009 to 9.5% in June 2009, according to (pdf) the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which reported widespread job losses across the major industry sectors, with large declines occurring in manufacturing, professional and business services, and construction.?
Retailer Daily reports that The BLS data reveal unemployed Americans increased by about 200,000 last month- from 14.5 million to 14.7 million. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed has increased by 7.2 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 4.6 percentage points.
Additional highlights from the June 2009 unemployment report:
- Temporary employment grew by about 1%, from 9.5 million to 9.6 million. Temporary employment increased by an average of about 615,000 per month from January-May 2009.
- The number of long-term unemployed (27 weeks or more) increased by 433,000 – from approximately 3.9 million to 4.4 million, a roughly 9.7% increase.
- The civilian labor force participation rate slightly decreased from 65.9% to 65.7%.
- Retail trade employment fell by 21,000, continuing a moderating trend begun last month when retail trade employment fell by 18,000. In comparison, manufacturing employment fell by 136,000 in June and 156,000 in May.
The overall US? unemployment picture continues to look poor for 2009. The Conference Board Employment Trends Index slightly improved from 89.7 to 89.9 in May 2009, although the Conference Board expects US unemployment to hit double digits before decreasing.
Other economic indicators remain mixed. Consumer spending, personal income and disposable personal income all rose in May 2009, although consumer saving levels also significantly increased. In addition, growth of the national trade deficit dropped by roughly 50% between March and April 2009, and US retail and food services sales in May 2009 climbed 0.5%.
However, the Consumer Confidence Index fell from 54.8 in May to 49.3 in June. In another negative economic sign, the RPI (Restaurant Performance Index) slid from 98.6 in April 2009 to 98.3 in May 2009, registering its first decline since December 2008.
