May 1999 Employment Situation

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain source. Statistical tables, standard technical appendices, administrative material and attendance rosters are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's historical context and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete document.

The unemployment rate, at 4.2 percent, was little changed in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The number of nonfarm payroll jobs edged up by 11,000, following a large increase of 343,000 in April (as revised). In May, substantial job losses occurred in manufacturing and construction, while the services industry had a relatively small gain.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons, 5.8 million, and the unemployment rate, 4.2 percent, were little changed in May. The rate has been below 4.5 percent since November 1998. Over the month, jobless rates declined for adult women (3.6 percent) and teenagers (12.6 percent). Unemployment rates for adult men (3.6 percent), whites (3.7 percent), blacks (7.5 percent), and Hispanics (6.7 percent) were virtually unchanged in May. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The civilian labor force, at 139.0 million, and the labor force participation rate, at 67.0 percent, were essentially unchanged from April. Total employment, at 133.2 million, also was little changed. The employment-population ratio--the proportion of the population age 16 and over with jobs--remained at 64.2 percent in May. (See table A-1.)

About 7.9 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held more than one job in May. These multiple jobholders represented 5.9 percent of the total employed, compared with 6.2 percent a year earlier. (See table A-10.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.1 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in May. These were people who wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers--a subset of the marginally attached who were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them--was 256,000 in May. (See table A-10.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment was little changed in May at 128.2 million, seasonally adjusted, after a large increase of 343,000 (as revised) in April. In May, job losses in the goods-producing industries were offset by modest growth in the service-producing sector. (See table B-1.)

In the goods-producing sector, construction employment fell by 40,000 in May, after seasonal adjustment. It had risen by about the same amount in April (as revised). Construction employment has fluctuated in recent months in part because of the unusual weather patterns this past winter. Since October 1998, however, the industry has added 194,000 jobs, about in line with the gain over the October 1997-May 1998 period.

Manufacturing employment continued to decline in May, with a loss of 45,000 jobs. Factory employment has decreased by 453,000 since its recent peak in March 1998. Over the month, large declines continued in industrial machinery (-8,000), apparel (-8,000), and aircraft (-6,000). Smaller losses occurred in electrical equipment, textiles, paper, and printing and publishing.

Job losses also continued in mining. Employment in the industry fell by 7,000 in May and has declined by 39,000 thus far in 1999. Most of the recent decline has been concentrated in oil and gas extraction.

In the service-producing sector, the services industry added 71,000 jobs in May, well below its average monthly gain of 125,000 over the prior 12 months. Business services added 42,000 jobs in May, with increases in personnel supply (13,000) and computer services (16,000) equal to their monthly averages over the prior 12 months. Growth in engineering and management services (13,000) fell short of its recent pace. Employment in health services was about unchanged in May, following a large increase in April. Both hotels and agricultural services had less seasonal hiring than normal, resulting in seasonally adjusted losses for May.

Retail trade employment was little changed in May, following a sharp rise in April. Over the month, declines occurred in food stores (-13,000) and in building materials and garden supplies (-5,000). Eating and drinking places added 23,000 jobs in May, after a larger gain in April. Although movements in retail employment have varied widely from month to month this year, average monthly growth thus far in 1999 (46,000) exceeds the 1998 monthly average (32,000).

Employment in transportation and public utilities increased by 13,000 in May, slightly below the industry's average growth over the prior 12 months. Transportation industries added 12,000 jobs, with trucking and air transportation each gaining 5,000. Communications continued its moderate growth trend.

In May, finance, insurance, and real estate added 12,000 jobs, well below its monthly average of 22,000 in the prior 12 months. Job growth in both finance and insurance has slowed this year compared with 1998. Wholesale trade employment edged down by 3,000 in May, compared with an average gain of 14,000 in the prior 12 months.

Government employment was little changed over the month. A decline in federal employment (-16,000) reflected the completion of some preliminary work on the decennial census. Local government education added 19,000 jobs.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged up 0.1 hour in May to 34.5 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek also was up 0.1 hour to 41.7 hours. Factory overtime increased by 0.3 hour to 4.6 hours per week. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 0.2 percent to 147.3 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing index remained at 106.5 in May. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 5 cents in May to $13.19, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings rose by 0.7 percent in May to $455.06, seasonally adjusted. Over the year, average hourly earnings rose by 3.6 percent and average weekly earnings rose by 3.0 percent. (See table B-3.)

Revisions to Establishment Survey Data

In accordance with annual practice, the establishment survey data have been revised to reflect comprehensive universe counts of payroll jobs (benchmarks). These counts are derived principally from unemployment insurance tax records for March 1998; the benchmark process resulted in revisions to all unadjusted data series from April 1997 forward, the time period since the last benchmark was established. All seasonally adjusted data beginning with January 1994 also have been revised, in accordance with the usual practice of revising 5 years of data.

The June 1999 issue of Employment and Earnings will contain an article that discusses the benchmark and post-benchmark revisions. This issue also will provide revised seasonal adjustment factors for March through October 1999 and revised estimates for all regularly published tables containing national establishment survey data on employment, hours, and earnings.

The BLS public database on the Internet, LABSTAT, contains all historical data revised as a result of this benchmark and updated seasonal adjustment factors. The data can be accessed through the Current Employment Statistics (CES) home page at http://stats.bls.gov/ceshome.htm.

Further information on the revisions released today may be obtained by calling 202-606-6555 or via the Internet on the CES home page.

(In thousands)