Promising Job Numbers Give Hope For Unemployment Report
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The sputtering economy received a small shot in the arm Thursday when new data showed U.S. private employers added 176,000 jobs in June and new jobless claims dropped roughly 14,000 from last week.
Looking at unemployment, new filings were at 374,000 and at 5.8 million overall, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Additionally, June layoffs dropped by 61,887 from May.
Still, some local job counselors are actually having problems finding qualified candidates for the jobs that are opening.
"I've seen an increase in a lot of companies looking for staff," said Odalys Girardo of Right Hire Staffing Solutions. "But I've been seeing there hasn't been the exact person or qualified candidate to place in that position. So, a lot of job openings and not enough candidates to fill them."
Lourdes Cou of Doral said that she's still looking for a teaching job and that she believes overall; the job market in South Florida isn't seeing many gains at all.
"There's so many people in Miami who are looking for a job. So I don't think so," Cou said.
Local labor analysts told CBS4's Al Sunshine that despite the belief to the contrary, South Florida's job market is continuing to see slow gains.
Still, slow gains are likely to give political fodder to Republicans and put President Barack Obama on the defensive. The incremental pace of the lengthy economic recovery is being hampered by gridlock in Washington due to partisanship, Europe's escalating debt crisis, and fears over taxes that have to be addressed by the end of the year.
Friday, the Labor Department will release the new unemployment numbers for the national economy. Those numbers will be crunched by both campaigns and spun for everything they are worth within minutes of the release.
