The latest economic reports show a surprisingly stable U.S. job market, but there are “cracks in the foundation” that could spell trouble for workers in the coming months, according to Andrew Flowers, chief economist at Appcast, a recruitment marketing provider.
The U.S. added 139,000 jobs in May, beating expectations and down slightly from 147,000 in April, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2% while the underemployed rate, or the share of part-time workers who want full-time jobs, remained unchanged at 7.8%.
Looking at the bigger picture, the job market is “treading water” and “worse than what the topline number says,” Flowers tells CNBC Make It. The economy netted an average 144,000 new jobs every month in the last year. That’s the lowest since 2011, excluding the pandemic-era drop, Flowers says .
Meanwhile, the bulk of available positions come from health care, leisure and hospitality, and social assistance. These sectors generally fuel a lot of new work, but tariffs and health-care policies in the Trump administration’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” could limit their growth, Flowers says.
The spending bill, which passed the House and is now under consideration in the Senate, would cut Medicaid spending by $700 billion and make signing up for health plans on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces harder and more expensive.
