In an early morning tweet, President Donald Trump touted the upcoming payroll numbers before their release. Unafraid of jinxing himself, Trump tweeted out that he was looking forward to seeing the employment numbers this weekend.
Looking forward to seeing the employment numbers at 8:30 this morning.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 1, 2018
As of last month’s job report, unemployment had fallen to 3.9 percent, below what economists consider “full employment.” For the first time in recorded history, there’s at least one job opening for every person seeking a job. (RELATED: Trump Sets Economic Record That’s Never Been Seen Before).
With unemployment so low, newly added employment is mainly accommodating population growth, though the size of the labor force remains at a historic low, so there’s still some untapped potential there (to bring people discouraged during the Obama years back into the labor force).
Payroll employment increases by 223,000 in May; unemployment rate edges down to 3.8% https://t.co/NsuHovcqn0 #JobsReport #BLSdata
— BLS-Labor Statistics (@BLS_gov) June 1, 2018
According to the just-released May 2018 jobs report, the economy added 223,000 jobs in May, reducing the unemployment rate to 3.8 percent. Broken down by race and gender, the unemployment rate is 3.5 percent for Whites, 5.9 percent for blacks 2.1 percent for Asians, and 4.9 percent for Hispanics, which are among the lowest rates on record for each group. The biggest employment gains were in retail, healthcare, and construction.
There are now 6.1 million unemployed persons (out of a labor force of over 155 million), and as previously mentioned, just as many job openings to accommodate them.
There are countless signs that the economy is heating up. Low-end employers such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, Chipotle, and Walmart have recently rolled out benefits that would make it possible for their employees to receive close to a free college education, and there would’ve been little incentive for them to do so if competition for workers wasn’t becoming increasingly more difficult. (RELATED: Walmart to Pay for College Benefits for 1.4 Million Employees).
Heck – even the 30-year-old who made national headlines last month for being sued to move out of his parents’ house was offered a job at a local franchise with a $1,101 bonus. Clearly, there’s a shortage of labor brewing, and the next benefit we’ll see for workers as a result is higher wages.
Are you benefiting from the Trump boom? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
