The U.S. economy added back another more than half a million jobs in May, with employment accelerating from April but still missing estimates even as the jobless rate slid to a new pandemic-era low.
The U.S. Labor Department released its May jobs report Friday morning and here are the main metrics compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:
- Change in non-farm payrolls: +559,000 vs. +675,000 expected, and a revised +278,000 in April
- Unemployment rate: 5.8 percent vs. 5.9 percent expected, and 6.1 percent in April
- Average hourly earnings, month-over-month: 0.5 percent vs. 0.2 percent expected, and 0.7 percent in April
- Average hourly earnings, year-over-year: 2.0 percent vs. 1.6 percent expected, and a revised 0.4 percent in April
Friday’s report also came with revisions to the prior two month’s payroll gains. April’s payrolls were upwardly revised by 12,000 to 278,000, while March’s non-farm payrolls increase was raised to 785,000 from 770,000. Altogether, the U.S. economy is still about 7.6 million jobs short of its pre-pandemic levels from February 2020, and would require more than a year to recoup this deficit at the current pace of job gains.
Some of the industries within the service sector that had been most deeply impacted by the pandemic saw another surge in re-employment during the month. The leisure and hospitality industry added back 292,000 jobs in May on top of 328,000 in April, but is still about 2.7 million jobs short of pre-pandemic levels.
Click here to see the full report from Emily McCormick at Yahoo Finance.
