Compared with the 13.8 million Americans who were unemployed in April, today's figures indicate there were 4.6 people vying for every opening, up from about 1.8 when the recession began in December 2007. The number of jobless rose to 13.9 million in May, pushing the unemployment rate up to 9.1 percent from 9 percent the previous month, the Labor Department reported last week.
Fed, Obama
May's employment figures imply the Federal Reserve will keep its benchmark interest rate near zero into next year and pose a challenge to President Barack Obama, whose re-election prospects depend on pushing the jobless rate lower.
"The current accommodative stance of U.S. monetary policy continues to be appropriate because the unemployment rate remains elevated and inflation is expected to remain subdued over the medium run," Fed Vice Chairman Janet Yellen said in a Tokyo speech last week.
Companies still reducing their workforce include H.J. Heinz Co., the world's biggest ketchup maker, which in May announced plans to slash as many as 1,000 jobs worldwide and close five factories. Dean Foods Co., the largest U.S. milk processor, said it cut 600 positions last quarter and 140 early this quarter.