May 2012 unemployment rate is 8.2%

The unemployment rate rose from 8.1% in April. With two months in a row of sub-100,000 job growth figures, public confidence in the economy is likely to shrink.

Fri, Jun 01 2012 at 11:57 AM

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Green Jobs, Economics

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The official May 2012 employment situation summary is out and the nation's unemployment rate increased slightly last month to 8.2 percent. This is up from 8.1 percent report in April 2012.

Only 69,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were added to the economy last month. The report contained more bad news because the unemployment figures for March 2012 and April 2012 were revised. The figures were revised downward.

March 2012 employment growth was originally reported at +154,000 jobs but the revised figure is +143,000 jobs. Last month’s initial figure was +115,000 jobs but the new figure is +77,000 jobs.

With two months in a row of sub-100,000 job growth figures, public confidence in the economy is likely to shrink. If you’re in the market for a new job, this is bleak news. If you’re a new college graduate, this is definitely not the news you wanted to see as you enter the workforce.

The lackluster jobs report is also bad news if you’re concerned about how your stock market investments are doing. At press time, the Dow was down 1.72 percent, the Nasdaq was off 2.14 percent and the S&P 500 was down by 1.90 percent.

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