Washington (EFE).- Unemployment in the United States increased by 440,000 people in May, which placed the unemployment rate at 3.7%, three tenths above that of April, according to data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, in English).
In the fifth month of the year, 339,000 net jobs were created, 86,000 more than in April, at a time when the effects that interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve are having on the labor market are being closely analyzed ( Fed) to curb inflation.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, celebrated the creation of jobs and attributed it to the fact that his government’s economic plan “is working.”
“Today is a good day for the American economy and American workers. We have created more than 13 million jobs since I took office,” the president said in a statement.
Despite the positive message from the White House, the data shows that unemployment in the country rose again, after two consecutive months (March and April) in which it fell, which seems to indicate that interest rate increases They are cooling the job market.
new jobs
Thus, in the month of May, some 6.1 million people in the US reported being unemployed. Women and African-Americans are the two demographic groups where unemployment grew the most, with rates of 3.3% and 5.6% respectively, according to BLS data.
The new jobs created in May, however, corresponded to the business industries, the health sector, construction, transportation and storage, and social assistance.
In turn, the average wage per hour for all workers, excluding those in the agricultural industry, increased 11 cents compared to the previous month.
This continues a trend seen over the past 12 months, where workers’ hourly earnings have increased by 4.3%.
The US economy
The unemployment data is released days after the US confirmed a cooling in its economy by maintaining the calculation of 0.3% for quarter-on-quarter growth between January and March, three tenths below that registered in the last three months of 2022.
At the beginning of the month, the Federal Reserve (Fed) raised the official interest rate by 0.25 points to place it in a range between 5% and 5.25%, its highest rate in 15 years.
The limit of new interest rate hikes in the US, which the Fed has not ruled out, will depend on the analysis made of the economic data presented today and the other financial gauges that have been revealed this month.