Stoking fears of a “double-dip” recession amidst a fragile global economic recovery, the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) on Friday reported the total nonfarm payroll employment declined by declined by 125,000 in June.
The decline in payroll employment reflected a decrease of 225,000 jobs among the temporary employees working on the payroll of the U.S. Census 2010, the BLS noted, adding however that private-sector payroll employment edged up by 83,000 for the month and the overall unemployment rate edged down to 9.5 per cent.
Commenting on the results, President Barack Obama said that despite the job losses last month, “All told, our economy has created nearly 600,000 private sector jobs this year. [And that is] a stark turnaround from the first six months of last year, when we lost 3.7 million jobs at the height of the recession.”
In a statement following the BLS announcement Mr. Obama admitted, “We are not headed there fast enough for a lot of Americans. We’re not headed there fast enough for me, either… And we continue to fight headwinds from volatile global markets.”
However he also announced that as part of the efforts to spur on the recovery in the U.S. economy, his administration would invest in 66 new projects across America that would aim to bring “reliable broadband Internet service to communities that currently have little or no access.” These projects would create about 5,000 construction and installation jobs around the country, he noted.
Following the monthly update, Christina Romer, Chair of Mr. Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, said, “Today’s employment report shows continued signs of gradual labour market recovery… However, much stronger job gains are needed to repair the damage caused by the financial crisis and put the millions of unemployed Americans back to work.”
Explaining the employment impact of 2010 census she said, “[The payroll employment] decline had been widely anticipated because some of the temporary employment related to the Census began to wind down last month.” She noted that non-Census employment rose by 100,000, reflecting a rise in private employment of 83,000 and a rise in other types of Federal employment.
Ms. Romer added that it was important to emphasise the magnitude of the damage that remained following the recession. “That is why the President continues to work with the Congress to pass targeted jobs measures such as an extension of emergency unemployment insurance, a program for small business lending that will enable small firms to get the credit they need to expand and create jobs, and more aid for troubled state and local governments to prevent layoffs of teachers, fire-fighters, and police,” she said.
Seeking to touch an optimistic note Mr. Obama said, “Now, Sunday is the Fourth of July. And if that date reminds us of anything, it’s that America has never backed down from a challenge. We’ve faced our share of tough times before. But in such moments, we don’t flinch. We dig deeper, we innovate, we compete and we win.”
