For Immediate Release: Friday, July 8, 2011
Contact: Phoebe Silag or Karen Conner, news@epi.org 202-775-8810

The labor market is in full retreat.  Virtually every single measure in the June 2011 Employment Situation report was weak:  only 18,000 payroll jobs were added, nominal wages fell, unemployment was up in almost all age groups, more than 250,000 workers dropped out of the labor force altogether, and the public sector continued to bleed jobs.  Furthermore, a downward revision to last month’s data means that this is the second month in a row with job growth at 25,000 or less.  This is a remarkable, across-the-board backslide.

Of particular concern is that measures we look to for signs of future growth – average hours and temporary help employment – both declined.  Average hours declined by one-tenth of an hour to 34.3; temporary help lost 12,000 jobs, its third straight month of declines.   Somewhat ironically, this report marks the two-year anniversary of the “official” end of the Great Recession (June 2009) and it is the weakest report since the recovery began. Click here for full Jobs Picture analysis.

See the latest labor market numbers, updated every month as new data becomes available, on State of Working America‘s Economy Track »