Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 157,000 in May, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Health care and food services added jobs, while employment declined in manufacturing. Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents, or 0.3 percent, over the month.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
The number of unemployed persons (6.8 million) and the unemployment rate (4.5 percent) were unchanged in May. The jobless rate has ranged from 4.4 to 4.6 percent since September 2006. Over the month, the jobless rates for the major worker groups--adult men (4.0 percent), adult women (3.8 percent), teen- agers (15.7 percent), whites (3.9 percent), blacks (8.5 percent), and Hispanics (5.8 percent)--showed little or no change. The unemployment rate for Asians was 2.9 percent, not seasonally adjusted.
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
In May, total employment was about unchanged at 145.9 million, and the em- ployment-population ratio held at 63.0 percent. The civilian labor force also was about unchanged at 152.8 million, and the labor force participation rate remained at 66.0 percent. Both the employment-population ratio and labor force participation rate were down by 0.4 percentage point from December. The number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons, at 4.5 million, was little changed in May but was up by 332,000 over the year. This category includes persons who indicated that they would like to work full time but were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find full-time jobs.
Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
In May, 1.4 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force, about the same as a year earlier. These individuals wanted and were available to work and had looked for a job sometime during the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marginally attached, there were 368,000 discouraged workers in May, about the same as a year earlier. Discouraged workers were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. The remaining 1.0 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in May had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance and family responsibilities.
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