The Economy: A good-news, bad-news scenario

The nation’s employment numbers continue to improve. In June, the country’s economy added another 288,000 jobs, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

When you combine that with the news that April and May’s numbers have been readjusted to a higher number, it brings the final tally of the first six months of 2014 to 1.4 million new jobs added to the economy. This is the best six-month number in terms of job growth since way back in 2006.

How do these stats translate into percentages? These new figures lower the unemployment rate to 6.1% from May’s 6.3%. This was a result of two things: first, more Americans reported having jobs; and second, there were more people who joined the labor force.

That’s the good news. It’s still not a completely rosy picture, though. As President Obama said, there is still work to be done. As of June, there were still three million unemployed Americans. Additionally, wages are up 2% over the past year, which is not enough to keep up with the current pace of rising prices.

This is partly why many in Washington continue to try to raise the country’s minimum wage to $10.10 per hour from its current rate of $7.25 (source). A recent poll taken by CNN showed that more than 70% believe the minimum wage should be raised, though many don’t think it should jump all the way to $10.10. Meanwhile, some cities and states have decided to take action on their own. For example, Seattle has decided to gradually up their minimum wage to $15 per hour, which will make it the highest minimum wage in the country.

The Obama administration is also working hard to pass a transportation bill which will help the construction industry by creating many new jobs. Since the recession, the construction sector (one of the hardest hit industries) has only been able to replenish about a quarter of the jobs it lost during the economic downturn.