Economy Adds 559K Jobs in May, Falling Short of Expectations as Unemployment Rate Declined

Get decent child care and kids in school will make a big difference. Plus, many are reconsidering where they want to work.

This pandemic has been devastating. It’s going to take time and resolve to bring back the job market. It also needs to come back with a focus and a new vision of a livable wage. Healthcare and childcare is a major issue that should be addressed. We have an opportunity here to improve American lives. Vote against the Republican political agenda and we will improve the issues for Americans.

Just starting the new normal Let’s give it a chance We didn’t get this way overnight We won’t solve it overnight

It is too early to make a case good or bad. The economic engine is just firing up and it will run a little rough until it warms up. Child care is not ready, supply chains have been disrupted, business strategies and operational protocols are being restructured and re-imagined, people have to realign themselves from ‘pandemic’ mode to ‘employee’ mode, and great uncertainty exists regarding future opportunities due to the obstructionism of the Republicans and the angst regarding our country’s political future, given the threats to voting rights and the number of ways to screw with the vote spreading like a plague of locusts. … … … Things will settle out as soon as people began figure out now to deal with the new post-trump world, and we all see those that would mislead us for political advantage held to account for their crimes against democracy.

Cancel ALL student loan debt.

House Republicans are blaming Democrats for the rise in Chipotle burrito prices. You heard me right. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) issued a statement on Wednesday claiming that Chipotle’s recent decision to raise prices on their burritos and other menu products by about 4% was caused by Democrats. “Democrats’ socialist stimulus bill caused a labor shortage and now burrito lovers everywhere are footing the bill,” said an NRCC spokesman, Mike Berg. It seems Republicans have finally found an issue to run on in the 2022 midterm elections. Apparently Dr Seuss and Mr Potato Head weren’t gaining enough traction. The GOP’s tortured logic is that the unemployment benefits in the American Rescue Plan have caused workers to stay home rather than seek employment, resulting in labor shortages that have forced employers like Chipotle to increase wages, which has required them to raise their prices. Hence, Chipotle’s more expensive burrito. This isn’t just loony economics. It’s dangerously loony economics because it might be believed, leading to all sorts of stupid public policies. Start with the notion that $300 per week in federal unemployment benefits is keeping Americans from working. Since fewer than 30% of jobless workers qualify for state unemployment benefits, the claim is that legions of workers have chosen to become couch potatoes and collect $15,000 a year rather than get a job. I challenge one Republican lawmaker to live on $15,000 a year. In fact, evidence suggests that workers who are holding back from re-entering the job market don’t have childcare or are still concerned about their health during the pandemic. Besides, if employers want additional workers, they can do what they necessarily do for anything they want more of but can’t obtain at its current price – pay more. It’s called capitalism. Republicans should bone up on it. When Chipotle wanted to attract more workers, it raised its average wage to $15 an hour. That comes to around $30,000 a year per worker – still too little to live on but double the federal unemployment benefit. Oh, and there’s no reason to suppose this wage hike forced Chipotle to raise the prices of its burrito. The company had other options. Chipotle’s executives are among the best paid in America. Its chief executive, Brian Niccol, raked in $38m last year – which happens to be 2,898 times more than the typical Chipotle employee. All Chipotle’s top executives got whopping pay increases. So it would have been possible for Chipotle to avoid raising its burrito prices by – dare I say? – paying its executives less. But Chipotle decided otherwise. I’m not going to second-guess Chipotle’s business decision – nor should the NRCC. By the way, I keep hearing Republican lawmakers say the GOP is the “party of the working class”. If that’s so, it ought to celebrate when hourly workers get a raise instead of howling about it. Everyone ought to celebrate when those at the bottom get higher wages. The typical American worker hasn’t had a real raise in four decades. Income inequality is out of control. Wealth inequality is into the stratosphere (where Jeff Bezos is heading, apparently). If wages at the bottom rise because employers need to pay more to get the workers they need, that’s not a problem. It’s a victory. Instead of complaining about a so-called “labor shortage,” Republicans ought to be complaining about the shortage of jobs paying a living wage. Robert Reich

@TheDarkSide wrote: "House Republicans are blaming Democrats for the rise in Chipotle burrito prices..." https://www.causes.com/comments/1476859 Bah! Let them cut down on the salt! I can't eat that food without getting a sodium buzz!* Haven’t been back in years. I think I'm still retaining water in my left knee. Having nothing else to offer, these incompetent politicians continue with their bogus "culture" war. Their minions, sorry, their base, must thrive on such stupid drivel! They seem to be anti-health in so many ways. Who knew! “An order of a Chipotle Burrito with chorizo, white rice, pinto beans, fresh tomato salsa, sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and romaine lettuce has 3,290 milligrams (mg) of sodium—almost one-and-a-half times the daily sodium limit (2,300 mg a day) for healthy adults.” “Salt Assault #3: Chipotle | Center for Science in the Public Interest” https://cspinet.org/resource/salt-assault-3-chipotle

It reminds me of the children’s nursery rhyme: Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall All the king's horses and all the king's men Couldn't put Humpty together again The pandemic destabilized businesses. Some businesses are reorganizing, downsizing, and closing. Things will never be the same again. We aren't over COVID yet. First, some refuse to get vaccinated. Second, there are variants (see, for example, "PM announces four-week delay to Covid lockdown easing in England; Boris Johnson says more time needed to tackle Delta variant." https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/14/pm-announces-four-week-delay-to-covid-lockdown-easing-in-england?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other Third, since the US does not have a centralized employment system to assist, people have to figure out on their own if they need new training, where the money for further training will come from, whether they need to move & figure out where & how, or if they need to just hold on, etc. So much for the "Invisible Hand" making corrections.

It's very hard to analyze an economy which is still suffering from a Pandemic. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is unreliable. Its numbers are only useful over longer periods of time and are solely indicators of general trends. Second, this is worldwide problem; our supply chains are dependent on factories all over the world. Many are in countries where the pandemic is still poorly controlled and the vaccine is scarce. Their output is unpredictable. Lastly, I'm getting very tired of the Blame-Game being played by the wealthy and their bought economists in the press. They and the business media keep blaming American workers for being either lazy, or greedy or both. THAT'S A LAUGH COMING FROM THE 0.01%!

Given the Biden's Administration increased regulations, the slow down on investments. The proposed new taxes changes, has affected how much people are willing to invest in new factories or job producing ventures. So lower numbers are what you can expect.

It’s a hard and long road back from the disaster left by former president idiot, moron, crook, racist, etc. It will take time and we are moving in the right direction. Might go faster if the trumpublicans would get the damn vaccine! Wake up!

We’re making progress, but it’s slow and the pandemic is still affecting many. We see that huge drop in 2020 and we still haven’t recovered fully. However, jobs are coming back so the line is going back up, hopefully soon we’ll go back to how it was before COVID struck.

@Bruce 👏👏👏

Michele, If it wasn’t for the last administration’s deregulation of the Covid vaccine development we would still be on lockdown. We’ll never know if Biden would have done a better job but experts were not predicting the vaccine would be available this fast. The jobs report is better since we’re finally opening up. And if I recall it was Kamala who was first hesitant about getting the vaccine.

It amazes me how our government has continued to function so well during the pandemic. We live in the generation of me and right now. Maybe instead of complaining, everyone needs to take a step back, thank the good lord and that under new leadership, we have almost outrun the devil.

I feel great that we are coming out of a dark period of time for the United States! I am glad that Biden and company has worked very hard to get the vaccine out to Americans! I am very disappointed with Republicans and conservatives that have not fully endorsed the vaccine! I also find it hard to understand how the conservative media wants to risk the futures of their followers and allowing then to not get vaccinated and catch a virus that we are just beginning to understand the many long term side effects that great the people who survive the illness! It being documented that it’s a very long list of side effects, from heart troubles, Type #1 diabetes, brain fog, blood clots, strokes and vision problems! I see conservative states that are just 40% vaccinated, well that could very well be a very serious problem come this fall for them! Costing Americans untold deaths and experience!

@ Michele: FACT: If it weren't for Trump, the US would not even have a vaccine. STATEMENT: As far as your remark about the Trumpublicans taking the vaccine, I was not aware that they ask political affiliation before giving someone a shot. What are your data resources?

Actual results were short of projections for the second month in a row. Hopefully, it is better next month.

More jobs have been created in Biden’s first four months in office than during the same period of any other president in modern history, including Reagan and Trump. Instead of focusing on a single report, trying looking at the overall picture and historical context first. Biden’s economy has performed quite well.

I think that as long as people are not being supported in going back to work, the job market might lag. People who can't afford childcare or healthcare, or who don't feel safe in their workplaces, are not in any hurry to return to work. I'm hoping this is a time that employers will wake up and realize what they need to do to help their workers by raising wages and providing incentives such as childcare and better benefits. Do I think it will happen? Not while Republican leaders keep saying disparaging things about the middle-class and working class people who need real help. We need to pass the American Jobs Act now.