Economy Adds 272,000 Jobs in May; Unemployment Rate Edges Up to 4%

In May, the biggest job gains were seen in several sectors including health care, government, leisure and hospitality, professional, scientific, and technical services, social assistance employment, and retail trade. These industries saw increases in employment numbers, with health care leading the way with 68,000 new jobs created. Other major industries saw little to no change in employment numbers over the month, including mining, construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, and other services.

Among different worker groups, the unemployment rate remained relatively steady in May. Teenagers had an unemployment rate of 12.3%, while Black Americans had a rate of 6.1% and Hispanics had a rate of 5.0%. Adult men and women had rates of 3.8% and 3.4% respectively, while White Americans had a rate of 3.5% and Asian Americans had a rate of 3.1%.

The number of long-term unemployed workers, defined as those jobless for 27 weeks or longer, remained relatively unchanged in May. This group accounted for 20.7% of the total number of people unemployed during that month. Overall, the employment landscape in May showed some gains in certain sectors while others remained relatively stable.