Weak U.S. Hiring Adds to Global Gloom (New York Times)

The United States added 69,000 jobs in May for an average of 96,000 over the last three months. That is down from 245,000 on average December through February. More people were looking for jobs in May, which increased the unemployment from 8.1% in April to 8.2%. The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds fell to a new record low of 1.46%. German two-year bonds fell below zero. The improvements were not a true acceleration, said Steve Blitz, chief economist of ITG Investment Research, but rather a catch-up from last year’s dip. “The reason why is was never going to build momentum going forward was simply because the rest of the world was slowing down,” Blitz said.