Junk-jobs nation

7 June 2013 By Martin Hutchinson

Lower-paid and temporary work accounted for most of May’s 175,000 employment increase and 40 pct of new jobs in the past year. Meanwhile, part-time work remains high and may rise as Obamacare kicks in. The jump in jobs might look good, but for many it’s not a path to prosperity.

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U.S. nonfarm employment rose by 175,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis in May from the previous month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on June 7. The unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point to 7.6 percent. March and April figures were revised down by a net 12,000 jobs.
Professional and business services added 57,000 jobs in May. Temporary help services added 26,000 jobs and in the last 12 months have added 186,000 positions, or 7.5 percent of the total employed in that sector. Leisure and hospitality services added 43,000 jobs and retail trade added 28,000 jobs, while manufacturing employment declined by 8,000 and government employment declined by 3,000.
Since May 2012, temporary help services, retail and leisure and hospitality have accounted for 40 percent of the 2.1 million jobs added to the economy.
Average private-sector weekly earnings rose by 35 cents to $824.21. Manufacturing weekly earnings were $988.58, retail sector earnings were $525.51 and leisure and hospitality sector earnings stood at $351.05.
The number of part-time workers for economic reasons – which excludes students, retirees and the like - was 7.9 million in May, 4.7 percent of the labor force. Part-time work generally peaks in recessions. It hit 4.2 million, 4.5 percent of the labor force, in 1975; 6.9 million, or 6.2 percent of the labor force in 1982 and 9.1 million, or 5.9 percent of the labor force in November 2009. In December 2007, at the start of the recession, it was 4.6 million, or 3 percent of the labor force.

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