JUST IN: Unemployment Falls More Than Expected in May, Number of Jobs Created Lower Than Expected

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The May jobs report shows an increase of 559,000 jobs after a disappointing April performance that showed a lower-than-expected 266,000 jobs added.

Going into the morning, economists expected to see around 675,000 jobs added in May, and a drop in the unemployment rate from 6.1 percent to 5.9 percent. That’s after April’s numbers fell well short of the million or so jobs that were expected to be added.

On Friday morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its May employment situation report, which showed a total of 576,000 jobs including upward revisions, and 559,000 for the month — but the unemployment rate dropped by .3 percent, slightly higher than expectations:

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 559,000 in May, and the unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 5.8 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, in public and private education, and in health care and social assistance.

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In May, the unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 5.8 percent, and the number of unemployed persons fell by 496,000 to 9.3 million. These measures are down considerably from their recent highs in April 2020 but remain well above their levels prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (3.5 percent and 5.7 million, respectively, in February 2020).
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The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for March was revised up by 15,000, from +770,000 to +785,000, and the change for April was revised up by 12,000, from +266,000 to +278,000. With these revisions, employment in March and April combined is 27,000 higher than previously reported.

President Joe Biden is scheduled to give remarks on the jobs report at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware at 10:15 a.m.