United States Job Growth Low, Unemployment Numbers Remain High

Jobs numbers for the United States for June paint a picture of a struggling economy.

80,000 jobs were added in June of 2012, well below the anticipated 100,000 expected by some groups.

For the April-June quarter, the economy added an average of 75,000 jobs per month, a sizable drop from the 226,000 new jobs per month seen in the first quarter of 2012.

The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.2 percent, which is about 12.7 million people.

The number of long-term unemployed, classified as those who are jobless for 27 weeks or more, stayed largely unchanged at 5.4 million, and accounts for 41.9 percent of the unemployed.

Also unchanged were 8.2 million people employed part time because their hours were cut or were unable to find a full-time job.

President Barack Obama called the job growth a “step in the right direction,” according to the Associated Press, but continued, saying that the economy has to grow “even faster.”

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said that the sluggish job growth is unacceptable, and is due to the current administration’s policies. Romney says that Obama’s tax, energy, and regulatory policies are hampering growth, according to the AP.

The complete release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is available here.