In May, 345,000 jobs were eliminated in the U.S. economy, pushing the unemployment rate to 9.4 percent, the highest rate in 25 years. Still, analysts almost unanimously saw this as a positive sign, because the job loss in May was much less than the average monthly loss of 700,000 jobs during the first quarter, or the 504,000 jobs lost in April.
It may be too soon to see a trend in these figures, but they are certainly positive, considering the fact that six million jobs have been lost, since the start of the recession in December 2007. Furthermore, 2 million of these job losses, or one third, happened during the first three months of President Obama's mandate.
The White House reacted promptly, saying that it will not become complacent. President Obama announced that, over the next 100 days, the execution of 10 major projects will be expedited, with the purpose of generating 600,000 new jobs.
Viewed by sectors the unemployment figures revealed a mixed signal, Manufacturing lost 156,000 in May, very close to 154,000 lost in April, while job losses in the service sector were 120,000 in May, much less than 230,000 lost in April. However, after so many months of negative indicators, even the slight improvement in the unemployment figures, gives ground to the expectation that the fall in the job market is slowing down.
Based on April data, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in Paris, confirmed that in its 30 member countries, including the most industrialized economies, there are "fragile signs" that the recession may have reached its lowest point.
Isaac Cohen is the former director of the Washington Office of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). He is a commentator on economic and financial issues for CNN en Espanol TV and radio.
