Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 559,000 in May — less than the widely forecast increase of 671,000 but still an encouraging sign as the nation continues to recover from the pandemic.
The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate dropped by 0.3%, from 6.1% in April to 5.8% in May, according to a report this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
A year ago, in May 2020, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 13.3%. Sectors leading the recovery last month were leisure and hospitality; public and private education; and, health care and social assistance.
The total civilian labor force in May was estimated at 160.9 million, with 151.6 million actually employed. Back in May 2020, 137.2 million were employed.
The number of unemployed people at the end of May stood at 9.3 million, a drop for the month of 496,000. According to the BLS, in May 7.9 million people reported that they were out of work because their employer closed or lost business due to the pandemic.
While that”™s a high number, it was down from the 9.4 million who said in April that the pandemic has left them out of work. Of May’s 7.9 million, 734,700 reported that their employer was able to pay them something despite their not being able to work, a figure that was basically unchanged from April.
The fact that people are getting out of the house more locally in addition to starting to travel again was reflected in increased employment in leisure and hospitality, which saw the return of 292,000 jobs. Nearly two-thirds of the increase, 186,000 jobs, was in food and beverage services. Gaming and amusements employment rose by 58,000 jobs and employment at hotels and other places of accommodation rose by 35,000. Nevertheless, employment in the sector was down by 15% from where it had been in February of 2020.
The reopening of many schools for in-person classes was reflected in public school employment going up by 94,000 in May, while private school employment increased by 41,000.
Employment in health care continued to trend up, adding 23,000 jobs in May. Social assistance added 23,000 jobs, with 18,000 of them in child day care services.
BLS found that in May, 16.6% of employed people were working remotely, down from 18.3% in April.
Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 15 cents to $30.33 in May, following an increase of 21 cents in April. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 14 cents to $25.60 in May, following an increase of 19 cents in April. The BLS suggested that the increase in wages may reflect the rising demand for labor associated with the recovery from the pandemic.
