Job reports typically report on jobs as if they are a commodity; a job is a job, whether you’re a CEOs or a greeter at Wal-Mart.
So it’s good news that 287,000 new jobs were added to the economy in June—assuming you believe government statistics—but it’s bad news if the jobs are so mediocre, illegal immigrants wouldn’t work them. 
First, let’s consider the numbers. In May, the experts predicted that 160,000 new jobs would be created, but the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that only 38,000 were created. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.7%, though, because 458,000 workers dropped out of the labor force and were no longer counted in the statistics.
For June, experts predicted that 175,000 new jobs would be created, which is 112,000 fewer than the BLS reported. At the same time, the BLS revised the May figure downward to just 11,000 new jobs. The question no one seems to be asking is why there was so much volatility between May and June. How does the economy add virtually no jobs one month and then produce 26 times as many jobs the following month? Even the stock market isn’t that volatile.
The report prompted headlines such as, “U.S. employment rebounds strongly in June, calming fears of economic slowdown” (The Washington Post), “Job growth surges in June as employers add whopping 287,000 jobs” (USA Today) and “Jobs Roar Back With Gain of 287,000 in June, Easing Worry” (The New York Times).
And, by the way, the unemployment rate increased from 4.7% to 4.9% in June, primarily because some Americans rejoined the work force.
Call me skeptical, but I will be surprised if the preliminary June job numbers aren’t scaled back significantly. The point that can be drawn from the numbers is that the so-called experts don’t know diddly and should be adding to the unemployment stats by losing their jobs.
But even if the numbers are accurate, there is plenty of cause for concern.
Working for the minimum. It’s worth noting that more than half of the newly created jobs are minimum wage jobs. The breakdown includes 59,000 jobs in the leisure and hospitality industry, 59,000 in education and health, and 30,000 in the retail sector. (Education jobs and many health jobs don’t strike us as being minimum wage jobs, but Zerohedge referred to them as such.)
Once we’re all working minimum wage jobs, true income equality will finally have been achieved! At that point the $15 minimum wage that progressives have been pushing should be boosted to $150 an hour, then we’ll all be able to spend more and give the economy a boost.
Working for the government. Government jobs were another bright spot, with an increase of 22,000 jobs. Government jobs, of course, don’t reflect economic growth. They just show more government spending, which leads to higher taxes.
We’re not sure who will pay them, when we’re all working minimum wage jobs. At least government jobs are not minimum wage jobs. In fact, a study released in October by the Cato Institute found that federal workers earned an average of $84,153 in 2014, compared to the private sector’s average of $56,350. That’s a 78% differential.
Is there any irony in government workers earning so much more than private sector workers while politicians make income equality their top economic priority? Of course, the Cato Institute study is based on government statistics, so we can’t vouch for its accuracy.
Working until you drop. Perhaps the most interesting point about the latest jobs report is that 90% of the jobs added in June—259,000 of them—were in the 55 and older age group.
If your kids moved back home because they haven’t been able to find a job, tough luck. Don’t take any consolation in the allegedly spectacular June jobs report. There were 107,000 fewer jobs in June for workers under age 24 than there were in the previous month. Meanwhile, only 28,000 jobs were added for the 25 to 54 age group.
Working for Goldman Sachs. After the potentially fudged economic numbers for June were released, the stock market responded as if Janet Yellen had announced another round of quantitative easing.
And of course, the same pundits who decided after the May jobs report that interest rates couldn’t possibly go up this year began predicting that interest rates would indeed increase before the end of 2016.
Goldman Sachs now says there is a two thirds chance of a rate hike in 2016. Before placing your bets, though, you should know that Goldman Sachs had also predicted that the Federal funds interest rate would steadily rise and reach 4% by the end of 2016. If you want to gamble with your life savings, you may be better off with a different bookie.