The Employment Situation — MAY 2024 economy news online news
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 272,000 in May, and the unemployment rate changed
little at 4.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment continued
to trend up in several industries, led by health care; government; leisure and hospitality; and
professional, scientific, and technical services.
This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures
labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment
survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information about
the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical Note.
Household Survey Data
Both the unemployment rate, at 4.0 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 6.6 million,
changed little in May. A year earlier, the jobless rate was 3.7 percent, and the number of
unemployed people was 6.1 million. (See table A-1.)
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Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.8 percent), adult women
(3.4 percent), teenagers (12.3 percent), Whites (3.5 percent), Blacks (6.1 percent), Asians
(3.1 percent), and Hispanics (5.0 percent) showed little or no change in May. (See tables A-1,
A-2, and A-3.)
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more), at 1.4 million,
changed little in May. The long-term unemployed accounted for 20.7 percent of all unemployed
people. (See table A-12.)
Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.5 percent, and the employment-population ratio,
at 60.1 percent, were little changed in May. These measures showed little change over the year.
(See table A-1.)
The number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.4 million, changed little
in May. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part
time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.
(See table A-8.)
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In May, the number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job, at 5.7 million,
was little changed. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not
actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take
a job. (See table A-1.)
Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached
to the labor force, at 1.5 million, was little changed in May. These individuals wanted and
were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not
looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a
subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, edged up
to 462,000 over the month. (See Summary table A.)
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 272,000 in May, higher than the average monthly
gain of 232,000 over the prior 12 months. In May, employment continued to trend up in several
industries, led by health care; government; leisure and hospitality; and professional,
scientific, and technical services. (See table B-1.)
Health care added 68,000 jobs in May, in line with the average monthly gain of 64,000 over
the prior 12 months. In May, employment growth continued in ambulatory health care services
(+43,000), hospitals (+15,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+11,000).
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Government employment continued to trend up in May (+43,000), in line with the average
monthly growth over the prior 12 months (+52,000).
Employment in leisure and hospitality continued to trend up in May (+42,000), similar to the
average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+35,000). Employment in food services and
drinking places continued to trend up over the month (+25,000).
Professional, scientific, and technical services added 32,000 jobs in May, higher than the
average monthly gain of 19,000 over the prior 12 months. Over the month, employment increased
in management, scientific, and technical consulting services (+14,000) and in architectural,
engineering, and related services (+10,000). Specialized design services lost 3,000 jobs.
Social assistance employment continued to trend up in May (+15,000), primarily in individual
and family services (+11,000). Over the prior 12 months, social assistance had added an average
of 22,000 jobs per month.
In May, employment in retail trade continued to trend up (+13,000), about in line with the
average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+8,000). Building material and garden equipment
and supplies dealers added 12,000 jobs in May, while job losses occurred in department stores
(-5,000) and furniture and home furnishings retailers (-4,000).
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Employment showed little or no 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.
In May, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 14 cents,
or 0.4 percent, to $34.91. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.1
percent. In May, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees
increased by 14 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $29.99. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls remained at 34.3 hours in May.
In manufacturing, the average workweek was unchanged at 40.1 hours, while overtime edged up to 3.0
hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls
edged up by 0.1 hour to 33.8 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)
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.
(Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies
since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors.)
The Employment Situation for June is scheduled to be released on Friday, July 5, 2024,
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