We were told to expect job growth figures to be around 190,000 in the month of May, but found instead that the U.S. economy added far more than that – this according to a new report from the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Non-farm payroll grew by 272,000 for the month of May, after growing by 165,000 in April. Notably, wage growth continued to outpace inflation, and though the unemployment rate grew by a bit to 4 per cent from 3.9 percent, that’s still a pretty manageable number.
As Steve Benen points out:
…[W]hat matters most about today’s report is the surprisingly robust number of jobs that are still being created. I’m mindful of polls showing a discouraged public, but over 1.2 million jobs have been created so far this year, and if this pace keeps up, the United States will see roughly 3 million new jobs this year, which is extraordinary.
MSNBC
Though Trump and his crew will say what they will say, the facts are against them when it comes to crowing about how well their economy performed compared to Biden’s. To wit, over the first three years of Trump’s presidency, the economy created 6.38 million jobs. Since January 2021, under Biden’s leadership, job growth has more than doubled the combined total of what happened under Trump’s first three year.
Much has been made of the fact that inflation and sticker shock over the cost of essentials has kept voters grumpy, but at some point the facts must start having an impact. The question is, will it be soon enough?