by Calculated Risk on 6/02/2006 12:24:00 PM

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows employment growth for Bush's second term. So far job growth has been about as expected.

Kash has more: Employment Update

"Those who were employed actually worked fewer hours in May, and nominal earnings were stagnant after rising at a reasonable pace for the past several months (this means that real earnings fell, of course). All in all, this is a pretty lousy jobs report.

Does this provide evidence of a slowing economy? We'll need a few more months of weak job readings to tell for sure, but it's definitely starting to look like a real possibility."

And from Barry Ritholtz: NFP stinks -- and Some People Still Don't Get It

"As unemployment starts ticking up, it will not be pretty. It suggests the next recession will be more severe than the last one."

From Brad DeLong: A Non-High Pressure Labor Market

"Three percent productivity growth. Zero percent real wage growth. Not an economy near full employment feeling rising inflationary pressures from labor."