ITEMS FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
Payrolls climbed by 69,000 last month, less than the most- pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey, after a revised 77,000 gain in April that was smaller than initially estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate called for a 150,000 May advance. The jobless rate rose to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent, while hours worked declined.
Timothy R. Homan, Employment in U.S. Increased 69,000 in May, Bloomberg, June 1, 2012.
__________
The proportion of Americans in their prime working years who have jobs is smaller than it has been at any time in the 23 years before the recession, according to federal statistics, reflecting the profound and lasting effects that the downturn has had on the nation’s economic prospects. … The percentage of workers between the ages of 25 and 54 who have jobs now stands at 75.7 percent, just a percentage point over what it was at the downturn’s worst, according to federal statistics.
Before the recession the proportion hovered at 80 percent.
Peter Whoriskey, Job recovery is scant for Americans in prime working years, Washington Post, May 29, 2012.
__________
A gauge of manufacturing in the 17-nation euro zone fell to a three-year low of 45.1 in May, indicating a 10th month of contraction, while unemployment reached 11 percent, the highest on record. China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped to 50.4 from 53.3, the weakest production growth since December.
Simon Kennedy, Global Growth Heads for Lull as Europe Output Shrinks, Bloomberg, June 1, 2012
__________
Markit chief economist Chris Williamson attributed the [manufacturing] slowdown to “a near-stagnation of export orders, reflecting deteriorating demand in many overseas markets, notably the euro zone but also emerging markets such as China.”
Steven C. Johnson with editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Weak export demand slows May manufacturing growth: Markit, Reuters, June 1, 2012.
__________
“We are living in very unusual times,” said Mohamed A. El-Erian, the chief executive of Pimco, the world’s largest bond manager. “History may not be as reliable a guide as it’s been in the past.”
Jeff Sommer, Flights to Safety Can’t Hide the Dangers, New York Times, May 12, 2012.
COMMENTS
Since the official end of the Great Recession, economists, with very few exceptions, have reiterated optimism about U.S. job growth following economic news releases, whether the news was good or bad. This optimism was and is untenable.
Even after decades of economic globalization, U.S. economists continue to make the mistake of treating nation to nation variations on larger global employment themes as though they are largely autonomous national employment themes. This mistake leads economists to carry forward into the current era a trust in nation-based economic analysis tools and nation-based economic policy formulations that were developed for an economic era that is all but gone.
Until U.S. economists revise their analytical approach and policy formulations to fit the global economic era in which we all now live, Americans will continue to be fed hopes about U.S. employment trends that are largely destined to be disappointed.
In Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid”, was used as a reminder to campaign workers to stay on message. It became fairly well known outside the campaign and is still occasionally quoted.
Long ago, U.S. economists should have revised that phrase to “It’s the world economy, stupid.”
IWE WORK FUTURES 