U.S. unemployment rises to 9.1% as hiring plunges

In the coming months, the labor market will be flooded with young high school and college graduates.

A net 54,000 jobs are created in May, less than half what's needed to keep pace with growth in the working-age population. There are indications that temporary factors caused some of that weakness.

By Don Lee, Los Angeles Times

June 4, 2011
Reporting from Washington—
The nation's job market took a sharp turn for the worse last month as employers abruptly curbed their hiring and the unemployment rate inched up — grim evidence that the economic recovery was faltering.

The new Labor Department report, which showed the unemployment rate rising to 9.1%, was bad news for millions of Americans seeking work and for the hundreds of thousands of newly minted college graduates whose prospects are increasingly uncertain.

But beyond those looking for work, the downturn in hiring signaled continuing troubles for the rest of the nation: A weaker economy — along with the increased risk of sliding into a new recession — reduces the likelihood that personal income will rise or that families will better themselves financially in other ways.

In recent days, an array of data have pointed to a slowdown in manufacturing and consumer spending, as well as persistent weakness in the depressed housing market.

Payrolls grew by only 54,000 in May, less than half what's needed to keep pace with growth in the working-age population.

Full story:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-jobs-20110604,0,5088539.story