At least jobs aren’t falling! Biden receives good news as US adds 339,000 new workforce positions in May – crushing economists’ expectations of 190,000
- The unemployment rate remains near its lowest level in five decades
- Labor Department figures show consecutive job gains for 14th time
- Following the House and Senate debt settlement agreement on Thursday
The US economy defied forecasts of a slowdown to add 339,000 jobs in May.
Figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday crushed economists’ expectations of the 190,000 new jobs that would be added.
This is the 14th consecutive month that job creation has exceeded the expectations of Wall Street economists.
The unemployment rate in the United States has climbed to 3.7%, but remains close to the low unemployment levels of the late 1960s. The rate hit a half-century low of 3.4% in April .
The economic news came as Dow futures rose after the Senate moved late Thursday night to pass a debt-limiting deal that averts a potential US bond default as soon as the “Date X” of Monday.
The U.S. economy defied forecasts of a slowdown to add 339,000 solid jobs in May
The good news is based on a series of monthly gains
Biden applauded the economic news in a statement.
“Today is a good day for the American economy and American workers. We learned this morning that the economy added 339,000 jobs last month,” he said. 13 million jobs since I took office That’s more jobs in 28 months than any president has created in 4 years.
He continued: “We also learned that the unemployment rate has been below 4% for 16 consecutive months. The last time our country had such a long stretch of low unemployment was in the 1960s. And the share of working-age Americans in the labor force is at its highest level in 16 years. Meanwhile, the annual inflation rate has fallen for 10 straight months, and it’s down more than 40% since last summer. Meanwhile, workers’ take-home pay has increased, even after adjusting for inflation.
Biden’s upbeat comments came hours after he welcomed the deal in a statement late Thursday.
“No one gets everything they want in a negotiation, but make no mistake: This bipartisan agreement is a great win for our economy and the American people,” Biden said in the statement. “It protects the fundamental pillars of my investment program in America that is creating good jobs across the country, fueling a resurgence in manufacturing, rebuilding our infrastructure, and advancing clean energy,” he added.
The good economic news comes hours after Biden stumbled upon delivering degrees at the start of the Coast Guard Academy in Colorado.
President Joe Biden is helped after a fall during the graduation ceremony at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado on Thursday. He fell while presenting diplomas to the cadets
In this image from Senate television, the final vote of 63 to 36 shows the passage of the bill to raise the debt ceiling Thursday night, June 1, 2023, in the Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Joe Biden should quickly sign the bill that will avoid the default
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the bill’s passage means “America can breathe a sigh of relief.”
He said: “We avoid default.
Biden plans to end his week with a speech on how to avoid default on Friday, then attend a parade at Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C.
The job gains come despite a series of 10 successive interest rate hikes voted by the Federal Reserve Board. At the Fed’s May meeting, it raised its benchmark federal funds rate to between 5 and 5.25%.
The job gains offered a promising signal in an economy that has seen declining home sales, and indications that Americans are struggling with credit card debt amid high inflation, though falling.
