US employment numbers far below pessimistic forecasts

There's no way around the fact that the May numbers are weak. Unemployment bumped up and the new jobs were only 69,000, well under the consensus 158,000. Yes, private employment is up and government jobs are shrinking and yes, the number is still above the painful 20,000 per month average from the Bush years. That said, we need a lot more jobs.
The challenge now will be avoiding the trap that Republicans will set, promoting the urgent need for austerity. If there's one thing we can't afford now, it's austerity. That program is taking Europe down the drain quickly and it would be a death blow for the US economy if implemented now.

Tax cuts for the so-called "job creators" is another terrible idea that will get new coverage via the Romney campaign but after this many years of Bush tax cuts, how much more obvious can it be that those tax cuts only add more to the deficit without providing the always promised jobs?

More on the miserable May jobs report via Bloomberg:

American employers in May added the smallest number of workers in a year and the unemployment rate unexpectedly increased as job-seekers re-entered the workforce, further evidence that the labor-market recovery is stalling.

Payrolls climbed by 69,000 last month, less than the most- pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey, after a revised 77,000 gain in April that was smaller than initially estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate called for a 150,000 May advance. The jobless rate rose to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent, while hours worked declined.