Friday, June 7th, marked the release of the employment situation from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 272,000 in May, and the unemployment rate increased to 4.0%. Unemployment has been slowly trending up month-over-month this year, starting with January at 3.7%, followed by February at 3.9%, March at 3.8%, April at 3.9%, and finally, May has had the highest unemployment since January of 2022 at 4.0%.
According to the BLS, unemployment breaks down as follows: Men, 20 years and over 3.8%; Women, 20 years and over 3.4%, 16-19 years old 12.3%, White 3.5%, Black or African American 6.1%, Asian 3.1%, and Hispanic or Latino 5.0%.
A breakdown of the jobs added can be seen in the above chart. Service-providing jobs were 247,000/272,000 jobs added while goods-providing jobs were the other 25,000. The biggest overall increase came in private education and health services with an increase of 86,000. Another notable increase came in government workers increases at 43,000, and leisure and hospitality at 42,000. While unemployment ticks upward, job increases are higher than expected, with some calling the jobs report a “surge” as compared to expected results.
A breakdown of the jobs added can be seen in the above chart. Service-providing jobs were 247,000/272,000 jobs added while goods-providing jobs were the other 25,000. The biggest overall increase came in private education and health services with an increase of 86,000. Another notable increase came in government workers increases at 43,000, and leisure and hospitality at 42,000. While unemployment ticks upward, job increases are higher than expected, with some calling the jobs report a “surge” as compared to expected results.
Overall monthly job gains were up from April, which was down from March, but a higher-than-expected increase is hardly a rebound for the economy. A small win, yes, we will need to see months of continued improvement, along with a decreasing, not increasing, unemployment rate, to call the economy fully recovered. Unfortunately, for the past several months we have had very few positive trends for all our economic factors including unemployment, inflation, GDP, price-indexes, and more.
It’s hard to call this latest report a win or lose, but the majority of workers, or those seeking work, know their economic situation better than outlets reporting the results. If you are in need of career resources, whether you’re looking for a job, or simply want to be successful in your current career, check out our Career Resources section for tips on resumes, interviews, and more.
Overall monthly job gains were up from April, which was down from March, but a higher-than-expected increase is hardly a rebound for the economy. A small win, yes, we will need to see months of continued improvement, along with a decreasing, not increasing, unemployment rate, to call the economy fully recovered. Unfortunately, for the past several months we have had very few positive trends for all our economic factors including unemployment, inflation, GDP, price-indexes, and more.
It’s hard to call this latest report a win or lose, but the majority of workers, or those seeking work, know their economic situation better than outlets reporting the results. If you are in need of career resources, whether you’re looking for a job, or simply want to be successful in your current career, check out our Career Resources section for tips on resumes, interviews, and more.
