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Economy in Brief
U.S. New Home Sales and Prices Strengthen
Sales of new single-family homes during March increased 4.0% (8.8% y/y) to 694,000 (SAAR)...
U.S. FHFA House Price Index Continues to Strengthen
The FHFA index of U.S. house prices rose 0.6% during February...
U.S. Energy Prices Rise Further
Retail gasoline prices increased to $2.80 per gallon last week (14.3% y/y)...
Italian Confidence Backtracks But Remains High-Valued As It Is for France and Germany
From Q1 2008 to date, Italian GDP actually has failed to grow and has declined by 5.8%...
U.S. Existing Home Sales & Prices Rise Again
The NAR reported that sales of existing homes increased 1.1% during March (-1.2% y/y) to 5.600 million units (AR)...
by Tom Moeller June 2, 2006
Nonfarm payrolls rose a modest 75,000 during May, the weakest increase since last October. Moreover, job gains during the prior two months were revised down by a cumulative 37,000 while the May gain fell short of Consensus expectations for a 175,000 rise.
Despite the weak jobs figures from the establishment survey, the household survey indicated a drop in the unemployment rate to 4.6% which compared to Consensus expectations for m/m stability at 4.7%. Employment rose 288,000 (1.7% y/y) and the labor force rose 180,000 (1.2% y/y).
Private sector payrolls grew 67,000 (1.6% y/y) during May while government employment rose 8,000 (0.7% y/y).
Private service-producing jobs rose 77,000 (1.6% y/y) last months after a downwardly revised 72,000 rise in April. For the twelve months ending March, these jobs were rising an average 131,000 per month. May jobs in retail trade fell 27,100 (-0.1% y/y) again reflecting broad based sector declines. Financial sector jobs rose 12,000 (2.7% y/y) and professional & business services employment rose 27,000 (2.7% y/y). Temporary help services jobs fell by 2,800 (+3.7% y/y), the fourth m/m decline this year. Jobs in education & health rose a firm 41,000 (2.4% y/y) but leisure & hospitality jobs increased just 4,000 (1.7% y/y).
Factory sector payrolls fell 14,000 after an unrevised 19,000 April increase. Employment in the motor vehicles & parts industries fell 9,700 (-1.7% y/y) and computer & electronics payrolls reversed all of the prior month's gain with a 4,6000 (+0.3% y/y) worker decline.
Construction employment increased just 1,000 (3.5% y/y) following monthly gains that averaged 22,000 during the prior year.
Growth in average hourly earnings moderated to 0.1% from an upwardly revised 0.6% rise during April. The slowdown exceeded Consensus expectations for a 0.3% increase. Private service-producing wages rose just 0.1% (4.2% y/y) following a 0.7% increase in April. Professional & business services wages were unchanged (5.7% y/y) after a 1.1% April jump while finance, insurance & real estate earnings fell 0.1% (4.6% y/y). Factory sector earnings were unchanged (1.6% y/y) after an upwardly revised 0.4% April gain.
| Employment | May | April | Y/Y | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll Employment | 75,000 | 126,000 | 1.4% | 1.5% | 1.1% | -0.3% |
| Manufacturing | -14,000 | 19,000 | -0.1% | -0.6% | -1.3% | -4.9% |
| Average Weekly Hours | 33.8 | 33.9 | 33.7 (May '05) | 33.8 | 33.7 | 33.7 |
| Average Hourly Earnings | 0.1% | 0.6% | 3.7% | 2.8% | 2.1% | 2.7% |
| Unemployment Rate | 4.6% | 4.7% | 5.1% (May '05) | 5.1% | 5.5% | 6.0% |
