US employers create over 200,000 jobs in May

US employers created more than 200,000 jobs for the 4th straight month in May, showing the country can still muster solid growth despite the weakness in Europe and other regions. The US economy added a net 217,000 positions last month, nearly all from private companies, the Labour Department reported on Friday. It took the total number of working Americans to a new high, surmounting for the first time all of the 8.7 million jobs lost during the Great Recession of 2008-2009. But there was still no progress in increasing the very low rate of participation in the workforce, which held at 62.8 per cent, compared to 66 per cent on the eve of the recession. That suggested that the economy still has far to go to reach full employment. Some 9.8 million people remained on the jobless rolls, slightly up from April. The unemployment rate held for a second month at 6.3 per cent, after falling sharply from 6.7 per cent in March, mainly due to data showing a large number of people leaving the workforce. Even so, economists said the May numbers were strong enough to suggest that the economy is picking up speed after the 1.0 per cent contraction of the first quarter of the year, according to AFP.