The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that non-farm payroll employment increased by 172,000 in May, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%. Job gains were concentrated in leisure and hospitality, local government, and health care, while employment in the financial sector declined.
This release provides statistical data from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment, and is categorized by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey measures non-farm employment, hours, and earnings across industries.
Household Survey Data
Key labor market indicators from the household survey continued to show little change in May. The unemployment rate remained at 4.3%, having fluctuated within a narrow range of 4.3% to 4.5% since July 2025. The number of unemployed persons was 7.3 million, showing little change over the month.
Among major worker groups, the unemployment rates in May were 4.0% for adult men, 3.8% for adult women, 14.7% for teenagers, 3.8% for Whites, 6.6% for Blacks, 3.8% for Asians, and 5.0% for Hispanics, with little change for any group.
In May, the number of persons unemployed for less than 5 weeks decreased by 286,000 to 2.2 million, largely offsetting the increase from the prior month. The number of long-term unemployed, those jobless for 27 weeks or more, was essentially unchanged at 2.0 million but is up by 524,000 over the year. The long-term unemployed accounted for 27.5% of all unemployed persons in May.
The labor force participation rate held at 61.8% in May, and the employment-population ratio was little changed at 59.2%. Following annual population adjustments, these measures have shown little movement over the year.
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons was 4.8 million, showing little change 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 work.
In May, the number of persons not in the labor force who wanted a job was 6.2 million, little changed over the month. 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.
Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of marginally attached workers was 1.7 million in May, little changed. These individuals had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not searched in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed no jobs were available for them, was 486,000, essentially unchanged from the prior month.
Establishment Survey Data
Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 172,000 in May, similar to the gain of 179,000 in April. Job growth in May was concentrated in leisure and hospitality, local government, and health care, while employment in financial activities declined.
Leisure and hospitality added 70,000 jobs in May, well above its average monthly gain of 14,000 over the prior 12 months. Food services and drinking places added 48,000 jobs.
Local government employment increased by 55,000 in May, primarily due to a gain of 44,000 jobs in local government, excluding education.
Health care added 35,000 jobs in May, in line with its average monthly gain of 38,000 over the prior 12 months. Ambulatory health care services added 26,000 jobs, with home health care services adding 11,000. Employment in hospitals continued to trend up (+6,000).
Social assistance continued to trend up in May (+12,000), primarily in individual and family services (+10,000). Over the prior 12 months, social assistance had added an average of 17,000 jobs per month.
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction added 5,000 jobs in May and has added 10,000 since a recent low in February 2025.
Financial activities lost 22,000 jobs in May and has shed 107,000 jobs since a recent peak in May 2025. Losses in May occurred in insurance carriers and related activities (-11,000) and in commercial banking (-3,000).
Transportation and warehousing employment was essentially unchanged in May (+1,000) and has declined by 92,000 since a recent peak in February 2025. Over the month, job gains occurred in transit and ground passenger transportation (+9,000) and in warehousing and storage (+6,000). Air transportation lost 9,000 jobs, largely due to a business closure.
Other major industries, including construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade, information, professional and business services, and other services, showed little change in employment over the month.
In May, average hourly earnings for all employees on private non-farm payrolls increased by 12 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $37.53. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.4 percent. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 8 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $32.31.
The average workweek for all employees on private non-farm payrolls remained at 34.3 hours in May. In manufacturing, the average workweek held at 40.4 hours, and overtime edged up to 3.1 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private non-farm payrolls was unchanged at 33.8 hours.
The change in total non-farm payroll employment for March was revised up by 29,000, from +185,000 to +214,000, and the change for April was revised up by 64,000, from +115,000 to +179,000. With these revisions, employment gains in March and April combined were 93,000 higher 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 Thursday, July 2, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (8:30 p.m. Beijing Time).
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