A WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATE FROM CONGRESSMAN GREGORY W. MEEKS

Employment

• The private sector created 41,000 jobs in May, and the unemployment rate fell to 9.7%. We have now seen overall job growth for five consecutive months and for six of the last seven months. Total job growth for May was 431,000, including 390,000 public-sector jobs attributable to 411,000 temporary Census hires. [BLS]

• 29,000 manufacturing jobs were created in May, and factory employment has risen by 126,000 over the past 5 months. [BLS]

• Initial unemployment insurance claims fell by 10,000 in the week ended May 29 to 453,000. [Labor]

Consumers

• The Conference Board Consumer Confidence index has reached its highest level since March 2008. The index rose 5.6 points to 63.3 in May, marking its third consecutive increase. The proportion of respondents expecting more jobs over the next six months is at its highest level since 2004. [Conference Board]

• Real disposable personal income rose 0.5% in April, the largest increase since May 2009. Total personal income increased 0.4% and is up 2.5% for the year. [BEA]

• Sales of light motor vehicles rose 3.5% at an annual rate in May. With two months of data for the quarter now known, it appears that second-quarter sales will be the second-highest since the third quarter of 2008, behind only the quarter in which sales were boosted by the cash-for-clunkers program.

Industrial Sector

• For the tenth consecutive month, the manufacturing sector expanded. The purchasing managers’ index registered 59.7 in May. Of the 18 industries surveyed, 16 reported growth, matching the broad gains made in March and April. [ISM]

• Manufacturers’ new orders for durable goods increased 2.9% in April, more than double the expected gain. Shipments of core capital goods rose 0.2%, following substantial increases of 2.3% in each of the previous two months. [Commerce]