Newsroom

June 03, 2016

May jobs numbers weak, Fed hike unlikely for June

Employment numbers in May went up 38,000, marking the smallest monthly gain since September 2010 and making an interest rate hike unlikely for June, according to NAFCU Chief Economist and Director of Research Curt Long.

The unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 percent in May as the labor force shrunk by 458,000 workers.

"The unemployment rate fell, but for the wrong reason as labor force participation declined for the second consecutive month," said Long. "The participation rate had been trending up during the fourth quarter of 2015 and the first quarter this year, but almost all of those gains were lost during April and May. Wage growth was modest, but the overall trend remains positive.

"As for the Fed, this likely puts an end to the hopes of a rate hike in June," Long continued. "July remains a possibility if there is a rebound in next month's employment data, but it is more likely that the committee will wait until the third quarter or beyond."

Long was also quoted in The Wall Street Journal, CNNMoney, CBS News, U.S. News & World Report and DSNews.

"This was an unqualified dud of a jobs report, with the weakest month of job gains since 2010," Long told the press. "It's a pretty gloomy report, hard to find a silver lining in this one."