U.S. Labor Department Cuts 103,000 Jobs From May-June Tally as Payrolls Fall 23,000
Updated
Updated · AlterNet · Aug 24
U.S. Labor Department Cuts 103,000 Jobs From May-June Tally as Payrolls Fall 23,000
2 articles · Updated · AlterNet · Aug 24
Summary
The Labor Department reported a 23,000 payroll decline this month and revised May and June job gains down by a combined 103,000, sharpening signs of labor-market weakness.
Professional and other white-collar fields appear especially soft, with workers and freelancers telling i Paper that hiring has stalled as business uncertainty freezes budgets and projects.
The strain is showing up beyond the headline jobless rate: unemployment stands at 4.1%, while labor-force participation fell to 61.4% over the past two months—excluding pandemic shutdowns, the lowest since the 1970s.
Accounts from laid-off editors, writers and scientists point to a broader white-collar squeeze in which experienced workers remain jobless for months, take lower-paid work or scale back family spending.