At only 54,000 jobs created, the US jobs report on Friday was disappointing. Private sector jobs increased 83,000 but were still below the average of the first four months of 2011. Economists were expecting approximately 170,000 jobs to be added in May and similar numbers for the private sector.

One month does not make a trend, but the lower number of jobs created certainly shows a loss of momentum. It does continue to reinforce the unevenness of the recovery and shows the economy's continued slow advance against earlier hopeful expectations for a fuller rebound.


The rising commodities and energy prices provide the backdrop to the slowdown and may be taking a toll on the manufacturing sector and consumer spending which had been making a comeback.

Whether or not companies start to pull back on hiring plans in the next several months is the thing to watch looking forward. We will monitor and report on this in our Executive Job Creation Index and Recruiter Confidence Index, which have always been leading indicators for the economy and the executive job market. So far, despite the May pull back, these remain fairly solid and consistent with a long-term trend of slow and steady growth.

Mark Anderson
Mark Anderson is ExecuNet's president and chief economist. An Arjay Miller Scholar, Mark received his MBA from Stanford University and a BA in economics from Yale University. He joined ExecuNet in 1993, with extensive marketing and new product and business development experience, having served as president and founder of A&M Associates, an investment management firm. Mark's corporate leadership experience includes several senior marketing and financial positions with RCA Global Communications (a GE subsidiary) and American Can Company.

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