The unemployment rate held at 4.2% in May
According to a release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 139,000 in May, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.2%. The Bureau says employment continued to trend in a positive direction in these sectors:
- health care
- leisure and hospitality
- social assistance
The federal government continued to lose jobs, according to the household and establishment surveys, which measure labor force status, including unemployment by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey measures:
- nonfarm employment
- hours
- earnings by industry
According to the HSD, the unemployment rate held at 4.2% in May and has remained in a narrow range of 4% to 4.2% since May 2024. The number of unemployed people, at 7.2 million, changed a little over the month.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates are:
- adult men (3.9%),
- adult women (3.9%)
- teenagers (13.4%)
- Whites (3.8%)
- Blacks (6%),
- Asians (3.6%
- Hispanics (5.1%)
The number of people jobless less than five weeks increased by 264,000 to 2.5 million in May. While the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) decreased over the month by 218,000 to 1.5 million.
“Both measures were little changed over the year. The long-term unemployed accounted for 20.4% of all unemployed people in May,” according to the release. “In May, the employment-population ratio declined by 0.3 percentage point to 59.7%. The labor force participation rate decreased by 0.2 percentage point to 62.4%.”
The number of people employed part-time or individuals who would have preferred full-time employment but were working part-time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs was at 4.6 million.
‘In May, the number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job was little changed at 6 million. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the four weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job,” according to the release.
Those not in the labor force (individuals who wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months) who wanted a job stood at 1.6 million in May.
Employment continued to trend up in:
- Health care
- leisure and hospitality
- social assistance.
Health care added 62,000 jobs in May, higher than the average monthly gain of 44,000 over the prior 12 months. In May, job gains occurred in:
- hospitals (+30,000)
- ambulatory health care services (+29,000)
- and skilled nursing care facilities (+6,000)
Employment in leisure and hospitality also continued to trend up with 48,000 jobs in May in:
- largely in food
- services and drinking places (+30,000)
Over the prior 12 months, leisure and hospitality had added an average of 20,000 jobs per month.
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