Job market stalls in May

6/6/2011

With the addition of thousands of graduating students to the labor market, the unemployment rate in the United States grew marginally in May. Meanwhile, the number of new jobs created also declined, reaffirming that small businesses are still grappling with lingering effects of the economic recession.

Payrolls grew by a marginal 150,000 in May, which was nearly 100,000 positions short of the number of jobs added to the labor market in April. Meanwhile, the jobless rate also rose by 9 percent during the same period, with only 10 percent of companies hiring an average of three employees.

"We are making progress, but we need to do even more to put Americans back to work. As we debate the nation's budget and work to address the deficit, we must continue to make smart investments in our infrastructure and in new industries like clean energy and alternative fuels to help to grow our economy and create more jobs for Americans here at home," notes Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.

Small business lending plays a crucial part in the hiring process - without the available funds, entrepreneurs have trouble adding new jobs to the market. Fortunately, small business lending has shown subtle improvements this year.