US Nonfarm Payroll Increases by 272,000 in May; Unemployment Increases to 4.0%

On Friday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 272,000 in May. This is above the average monthly gain of 232,000 over the prior 12 months.

Job growth occurred in the following sectors in May:

• Health care added 68,000 jobs, in line with the average gain of 64,000 over the prior 12-month period.
• Government employment increased by 43,000, in close alignment with the average monthly growth of 52,000 over the prior 12 months.
• Employment in leisure and hospitality continued to trend up, gaining 42,000. This is slightly above the average monthly gain of 35,000 over the prior 12 months.
• Professional, scientific, and technical services added 32,000 jobs, well above the average monthly gain of 19,000 over the prior 12 months.
• Social assistance employment continued to trend higher in May, adding 15,000 jobs. Social assistance had added an average of 22,000 jobs per month over the prior 12-month period.
• Employment in retail trade continued to trend up, adding 13,000 jobs—in line with the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months of 8,000.

Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; transportation and warehousing; information; financial activities; and other services.

The unemployment rate increased to 4.0% from 3.9% reported in April. The number of unemployed people increased from 6.5 million in April to 6.6 million in May. A year earlier, the jobless rate was 3.7% and the number of unemployed people was 6.1 million.

Revisions

Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimate and from recalculations of seasonal factors. As a result, the change in total nonfarm payroll employment for March was revised down by 5,000—from 315,000 to 310,000—and the change for April was revised down by 10,000—from 175,000 to 165,000. With these revisions, employment in March and April combined is 15,000 lower than previously reported.