Today’s Slump

THE BE YOUR OWN ECONOMIST ® BLOG

Yesterday the stock market rallied. Today it lost all of yesterday’s gains and a whole lot more.

This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its report (http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm) that May unemployment rose from 5.0% to 5.5% and the economy lost 49,000 jobs:

“The unemployment rate rose from 5.0 to 5.5 percent in May, and nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend down (-49,000), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. In May, employment continued to fall in construction, manufacturing, retail trade, and temporary help services, while health care continued to add jobs….”

Meanwhile, oil rose by a record $10.75 for a trading day to a record $138.54 according to CNN Money (http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/06/news/economy/gas_prices/index.htm?postversion=2008060621 ).

By the end of the trading day the S&P had fallen $43.37 to 1,360.68 to close out another grim week on Wall Street.

It looks bad.

© 2008 Michael B. Lehmann