CNBC editor Rick Santelli reacted Friday to the weaker than expected jobs and unemployment numbers for the month of May.
In May, the U.S. economy added 559,000 jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 5.8%, which are both below the median forecast of 650,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 5.9%.
Santelli argued on “Squawk Box” that the extra government benefits provided by President Joe Biden and his administration as the country comes out of the coronavirus pandemic are keeping people from seeking work. He pointed to seeing 14 “Help Wanted” signs the night before in one square mile as evidence.
“[T]he labor force participation rate — 61.6 that’s a bit of a disappointment because 61.7 twice post-COVID is the post-COVID high,” Santelli outlined. “And I do want to mention prior to COVID, this number was 63.3 in February of 2020.”
He added, “There was a great quote by I think, yeah, president of Manpower Group. It was, ‘Employees are acting like consumers in how they are consuming work,’ and San Francisco Fed saying that extra benefits have an effect on job decisions. I think both of those things along with — on my way to bowling last night in one square mile of commercial complex, 14 ‘Help Wanted’ signs, so I think all of those put together helped me derive my numbers.
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent
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