Jobs Report Shows Continued Decline

In June, the economy lost 62,000 jobs, according to the Employment Report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Generally, about 150,000 new jobs are needed each month to keep the economy stable.

Year-over-year, employment declined .24%. This is slightly worse than last month's y-o-y decline of .11%. The employment situation has gotten steadily worse since January 2006, when year-over-year growth peaked at 2.1%. The last time year-over-year job growth trended down this severely was in 2001, which led to 29 months of job losses. (See Google Spreadsheet Employment )

The unemployment rate held at 5.5%. This also continues a worsening trend begun in October 2006, when unemployment was at a low of 4.4%. The total number of unemployed is 8.5 million, the same as last month, and 1.5 million more than last year in June. (Source: BLS, Employment Situation Summary)

Manufacturing jobs continued the decline begun October 2006. The economy now has 3.65% fewer manufacturing jobs than the year before. Manufacturing jobs are a good leading indicator of overall economic performance, since they produce big-ticket items that consumers will put off buying when the economy starts to weaken. As the orders decline, manufacturers will hire less workers, and even lay off existing workers to keep costs low. (See Google Spreadsheet Manufacturing Jobs)

For a history of employment reports since March 2007, read Employment Statistics History.

What This Means for You

Jobs were down across the board, with restaurant jobs now taking a hit, while losses continued to mount in manufacturing and housing construction. The only sectors where jobs gained were health care and mining.

The statistics are showing that health care seems to be fairly recession-proof, so if you are considering a change, now would be a good time to get some training for that field. If you have been laid off, then these articles will help you get a new job, so that you won't be a statistic in next month's unemployment report.

Articles from Alison Doyle, About.com Guide to Job Searching

• Prepare for a Job Search
• How to Be a Compelling Candidate
• Pink Slip? What's Next?

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