Unemployment in the United States has fallen to its lowest levels since 2008, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. unemployment fell to 5.5% in the month of February. The last time unemployment was below 5.6% was May 2008, when employment was 5.4%. Levels of unemployment have been trending downward since October 2009, when one in ten in the United States was unemployed.
During an exclusive interview with Oil & Gas 360®, Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist for Wunderlich Securities, said that more jobs were one of the main tailwinds leading to an economic recovery in the U.S.
“Two-thirds of our GDP is driven by the consumer,” said Hogan. “And the consumer has three tailwinds that are just now showing themselves: higher levels of employment, low energy costs and consumer confidence that is at a level that we haven’t seen since before the recession.”
Graph shows unemployment as a percentage, month-to-month, from January 2005 to the present. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
By sector, construction saw the largest change in unemployment, having 2.2% lower unemployment in 2015 than in 2014. The sector with the lowest unemployment overall was government workers at 2.4% overall unemployment, according to statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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