BLS Analysis - May 2024 U.S. Job Market

The Employment Situation — May 2024

In May 2024, the U.S. economy saw an addition of 272,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate showing a slight adjustment at 4.0%. This report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics highlights a continued upward trend in several major industries, notably in health care, government, leisure and hospitality, and professional, scientific, and technical services.

Household Survey Data

The unemployment rate remained stable at 4.0%, with 6.6 million individuals unemployed, marking a minor change from the previous year's 3.7% rate and 6.1 million unemployed. The labor force participation rate was relatively unchanged at 62.5%, and the employment-population ratio held steady at 60.1%. Long-term unemployment figures stayed consistent, with 1.4 million people categorized as long-term unemployed, representing 20.7% of the unemployed population.

Industry-Specific Employment Trends

Significant job gains were observed in several sectors:

• Health Care: Added 68,000 jobs with substantial growth in ambulatory health care services (+43,000), hospitals (+15,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+11,000).
• Government: Saw an increase of 43,000 jobs, consistent with its average monthly growth.
• Leisure and Hospitality: Added 42,000 jobs, continuing its growth trend with notable contributions from food services (+25,000).
• Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services: Gained 32,000 jobs, with increases in management, scientific, and technical consulting services (+14,000), and architectural and engineering services (+10,000).

Wage and Hourly Earnings

Average hourly earnings for all employees increased by 14 cents to $34.91, showing a year-over-year increase of 4.1%. The average workweek remained constant at 34.3 hours.

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