The global financial and economics community looked eagerly to the United States jobs report. This report was the biggest indication of the future of the United States economy throughout the month of April. The numbers that came in were a big shock.
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the country only produced 115,000 jobs throughout the month of April. This figure came in far lower than was previously expected. Over the last several months, the United States created jobs at a pace of about 250,000 a month. The smaller figure was an indication that the economic recovery may have lost steam.
Despite the drop in jobless claims, the unemployment rate dropped from 8.2 to 8.1%. However, this figure was anything but a silver lining. According to the BLS, this decline was largely due to the fact that more than 300,000 workers left the labor force. The shrinking labor force has been another area of contention in recent months.
Whether or not the United States economy will be able to regain momentum remains to be seen. The global community has hoped that the United States, Germany, France and China will avoid another recession. However, recent data from the United States shows that it still may have a long way to go before it gets through the period of economic stagnation. The report comes about a week after durable goods orders dropped the most in four months and several days after GDP was reported to have grown much more slowly than expected.
President Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Benjamin Bernanke acknowledged that the country’s economy has a long way to go before it can fully recover. However, this news doesn’t bode well for Obama as he prepares for the upcoming election. His contender, Mitt Romney, has used the jobs report and other economic data as ammunition against Obama.
The nation hopes that the jobs recovery will begin to pick up steam in the coming months. the newest unemployment claims figure came in lower than expected, indicating that the job market may start to recover in May. However, economists also feel that the jobs market experienced much greater growth towards the beginning of the year due to a warmer than normal winter, which may have inspired employers to hire earlier than usual.
