Tim Kane at Growthology writes:

The normal advice from sage, two-handed economists is that people shouldn’t overreact to one bit of bad news. The wise guys on Wall Street snicker at the day traders with lines like, “Two data points make a trend!” So count on lots of punditry that today’s employment situtation isn’t as bad as it looks, especially when the Bureau of Labor Statistitcs comments that the uptick in the unemployment rate is statistically insignificant. With friends like these …
This time, if your instinct is not to overreact, I’d urge you to reconsider. This month’s report on May activity shows that the April report wasn’t a fluke. And it confirms that the entire last year of lackluster labor market equilibrium isn’t some unique aspect of a unique recovery. It’s time for some overreaction.

Tim goes on to draw attention to some of the grim details, including the following:

The long-term unemployed increased in May by 361,000. Add that to the disturbing uptick in weekly jobless claims, stuck north of 400,000 a month.

I am particularly concerned about the level of youth unemployment.