Obama's America: In May 2013, the unemployment rate rose to 7.6%

There are nearly 12 million people who are out of a job and looking for work. On top of that, there are another nearly 8 million people who have only been able to find part-time gigs. Two areas of the economy that added the most amount of jobs were retail and "accommodations and food services," not areas known for their high wages or job security. Manufacturing lost 8,000 jobs. And despite the oft-touted housing recovery, construction added just 7,000 jobs. The number of jobs added through the first five months of 2013 is lower than 2012 and only slightly higher than in 2011. So the economy is still stuck at a middling level of job creation. In the early 1990s recovery, job gains accelerated for 35 months. After the 2001 recession, they did so for 28 months. But this time around, gains in the labor market appear to have already peaked after just 18 months. What's more, the plateau is at a lower level than those other recoveries.