This Time, Economy Is Overshadowed

The covert data miners at the National Security Agency stole the thunder of the more predictable number crunchers at the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday morning, when the release of the May jobs numbers drew merely a low rumble. The economy added 175,000 jobs last month, slightly more than expected, but the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.6 percent.

The numbers offer a “modest relief,” said Ian Shepherdson, the chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, a market intelligence firm. He predicted in an e-mail, however, that the numbers in June and July would be “materially weaker than May,” adding, “Talk of tapering will not be quieted by this report but still seems premature.”

Alan B. Krueger, the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, saw nothing but good news in the report: “While more work remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further confirmation that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression.”

Posting on the White House blog, Mr. Krueger defended the increase in the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent from 7.5 percent by noting an increase in the labor participation rate, “a sign that more workers felt encouraged to search for a job.”

But another liberal economist, Adam S. Hersh of the Center for American Progress, was less impressed:

Hiring of temporary workers (+26k in May) still way below levels that indicate a sustained labor market expansion.

â€" Adam S. Hersh (@adamshersh) 7 Jun 13

It’s unclear whether Reince Priebus, the Republican Party chairman, intended to create a little rhyme, but here is the first paragraph of his poetic-for-Washington  statement:

We’re happy that a few Americans were able to find jobs in the last month, but millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans are still waiting for the recovery President Obama promised years ago. This is the status quoâ€"well below where our economy needs to be to grow.

Mr. Priebus continued, “Reports have come out showing he’s lost control of his government: the IRS has been squandering taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars on luxurious million dollar trips and conferences.”

Don’t like the numbers? Don’t blame us, said Representative Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, noting that the Republican-led chamber passed a jobs training bill and a measure to advance the Keystone XL pipeline in May.

But Representative Steny Hoyer, the Democratic whip, did blame the Republicans: “The best remedy Congress can provide for our economy is a big and balanced solution to deficits that replaces the irrational Republican policy of sequester.”