No Workers = No Growth

Today's jobs report showed the unemployment rate falling to 4.3%. That's lower than at any time during the housing boom. It's almost as low as the peak of the tech boom. Indeed, other than during a brief period around 2000, it's the lowest unemployment rate since the 1960s. Even the U-6 rate is back to the levels of the summer of 2006. So we must be producing lots of jobs, right? No, payroll employment rose by just 138,000 in May, well below the pace of the previous 7 years. Yes, one month is not significant, but job growth over the past three months has averaged only 121,000. Companies cannot find workers.