The number of new workers in the US fell sharply in May, with their numbers only increasing by 75,000 even though the unemployment rate remained at a 50-year low, the US Labor Department said on Friday.
This decline was the second in four months where the number of workers rose by less than 100,000 because the labor market still showed signs of weakness. Previously, economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected to add 180,000 workers.
In addition, the trigger for the decline in the number of workers in May was a report two months earlier which showed a substantial downward revision. For March the amount dropped from 189,000 to 153,000 and for April it fell to 224,000 from 263.00 for a total decline of 75,000.
In general, the report became another black spot amid fears of a bigger slowdown.
Meanwhile the unemployment rate is still at the level of 3.6%, in line with estimates and the lowest level since December 1969. A broader measure includes desperate and underemployed workers who work part time for economic reasons, sometimes called the real unemployment rate , down further, from 7.3% to 7.1%, this was the lowest reading since December 2000.