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What's going on?
A report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday revealed that the American economy has been working hard to create more and more jobs this year, helping the US to eke out its lowest unemployment rate since the year 2000!
What does this mean?
The US economy added a whopping 223,000 jobs in the month of May, and employers have collectively added an average of 207,000 jobs each month this year. Job growth looked like it might start slowing down in the US a few months ago, but its now showing signs of strengthening again.
Another good piece of news is that the number of discouraged workers meaning people who are unemployed and able to work but dont count in the official figures because theyve given up looking is also at its lowest in over ten years.
Why should I care?
The bigger picture: Things could be peaking before the next economic downturn.
Its been around ten years since the Global Financial Crisis began. While most countries have since recovered, its no secret that economies tend to move in predictable patterns meaning the next financial crisis could be just around the corner. However, some say that tax cuts and higher spending from the US administration might be prolonging this current high in the US economic cycle.
For you personally: The mystery of wage growth lingers on.
Given that unemployment is so low, wages ought to be growing quickly as companies have to compete to fill jobs from a smaller pool of potential employees and in order to win them over they should have to spike wages. However, wages arent even close to growing as fast as they were in the years before the financial crisis. There are lots of theories as to why, including one that suggests the growth of subcontracted work (like being an Uber driver) hurts workers power to collectively negotiate higher wages.
Originally posted as part of the Finimize daily email.
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