May 2006 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.

Nonfarm employment edged up in May (+75,000), and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Employment continued to trend up in some service-providing industries and in mining, while retail trade and manufac- turing lost jobs. Average hourly earnings were up by 1 cent in May following a gain of 10 cents in April.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the number of unemployed persons (7.0 million) and the unemployment rate (4.6 percent) were essentially unchanged in May. A year earlier, the unemployment rate was 5.1 percent.

In May, the jobless rates for the major worker groups--adult men (4.2 per- cent), adult women (4.1 percent), teenagers (14.0 percent), whites (4.1 per- cent), blacks (8.9 percent), and Hispanics (5.0 percent)--showed little or no change over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was 3.0 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment (144.0 million) continued to trend up in May; over the year it has increased by 2.4 million. Both the employment-population ratio (63.0 percent) and labor force participation rate (66.1 percent) held steady over the month. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.4 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in May, the same as a year earlier. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marginally attached, there were 323,000 discouraged workers in May, down from 392,000 a year earlier. Discouraged workers were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. The other 1.1 million marginally attached had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)

Employment Status of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees (Household Survey Data)

Beginning in October 2005, questions were added to the household survey to identify persons who evacuated from their homes, even temporarily, due to Hurricane Katrina. Data collected through these questions do not account for all evacuees; persons living outside the scope of the survey--such as those living in hotels or shelters--are not included. The questions were asked of persons in the household survey sample throughout the country, since some evacuees relocated far from the storm-affected areas. An additional question determined whether evacuees had returned to their homes and were living there at the time of the survey. The total number of evacuees estimated from the household survey may change from month to month as people move in and out of the scope of the survey. In addition, because the estimates are obtained from a sample survey, they may vary from month to month due to sampling error.

Information gathered in May represented about 1.2 million persons age 16 and over who had evacuated from where they were living in August 2005 due to Hurricane Katrina. These evacuees either had moved back to their homes or were living in other residential units covered in the survey. Over half of the evacuees were living in their August 2005 residences. Of all evacuees identified, 61.8 percent were in the labor force in May. The unemployment rate for persons identified as evacuees was 14.3 percent. The rate was much higher for evacuees who were not living in their former homes (24.9 percent) than for those who were again living at their pre-Katrina residences (6.5 per- cent). (See table B.)

(Numbers in thousands, not seasonally adjusted)

1 Represents persons in the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over who resided in households that were eligible to be selected for the Current Population Survey (CPS). These data are not representative of the total evacuee population because they do not in- clude children or people residing in shelters, hotels, places of worship, or other units outside the scope of the CPS. The total number of evac- uees estimated from the CPS may change from month to month as people move in and out of the scope of the survey and because of sampling varia- bility. NOTE: These data use population controls that have been adjusted to account for interstate moves by evacuees.

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment edged up in May (+75,000) to 135.1 million. Over the month, job gains continued in education and health services, wholesale trade, professional and business services, and mining. Retail trade employment was down in May. (See table B-1.)

Education and health services continued to add jobs in May, with a gain of 41,000. Over the past 12 months, employment in the industry has increased by 408,000, with health care accounting for about two-thirds of the growth. In May, health care added 19,000 jobs, with about half of the gain in hospitals.

Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, wholesale trade added 14,000 jobs over the month; employment in this industry has risen by 108,000 over the past year. Employment in professional and business services continued to trend upward in May (+27,000). Within that industry, computer systems design added 11,000 jobs. Temporary help employment has been flat since January.

Retail trade employment fell by 27,000 in May, following a larger decline in April. However, employment in the industry was little changed over the year. Over the month, general merchandise stores and clothing stores each lost 9,000 jobs. Employment in the information industry fell by 13,000, largely due to a decline in motion picture and sound recording employment.

In the goods-producing sector, mining employment rose by 4,000 in May. Mining has added 113,000 jobs since its most recent low in April 2003, largely reflecting gains in support activities for oil and gas. In May, construction employment was essentially unchanged in all its component industries. Total construction employment has not increased significantly since February.

Manufacturing employment edged down in May (-14,000), following a small gain in April. Over the month, employment declined in motor vehicles and parts and in computer and electronic products; both of these industries had added jobs in April.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.1 hour to 33.8 hours in May, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek also fell by 0.1 hour to 41.1 hours, while factory overtime was unchanged at 4.6 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.2 percent in May to 104.6 (2002=100). The manufacturing index fell by 0.3 percent to 96.0. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 1 cent in May to $16.62, seasonally adjusted. This followed an increase of 10 cents in April. Average weekly earnings decreased by 0.2 percent in May to $561.76. Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 3.7 percent and average weekly earnings increased by 4.0 percent. (See table B-3.)