In the middle of last year the US economy was something of a marvel: an economy which was creating jobs at an unprecedented rate, as other economies around the world remained in the deep freeze. Having shed jobs by the million in March, by May it looked as if the jobs market would be back to its pre-Covid position in months. But what has happened?
Bureau of Labor figures published today show that once again, job creation for the month of May came in lower than expectations — with an extra 559,000 people on non-farm payrolls. It was better than April, when 278,000 new jobs were created — which was little more than half what many people had expected. Unemployment, at 5.8 per cent, remains far above the 3.5 per cent rate measured in February 2020, just before the pandemic.
Job creation was strongest in May in the food and drink sector as bars and restaurants reopened.
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