The June "Jobs" report issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on July 2 caused shock and dismay. Payrolls declined by 467,000 jobs, more than the 345,000 lost in May, and much more than the 363,000 that economists had predicted. The only reason that the reported unemployment rate rose by only 0.1 percentage points (to 9.5%) in June was that many jobless people became discouraged and stopped looking for work.
As bad as the BLS report was, it should not have come as a surprise. The deteriorating employment situation could have been predicted as early as April 29, when the "Gross Domestic Product: First Quarter 2009 (Advance)" report was issued by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). (more)
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