May 2008 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 rose from 5.0 to 5.5 percent in May, and nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend down (-49,000), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. In May, employ- ment continued to fall in construction, manufacturing, retail trade, and temporary help services, while health care continued to add jobs. Average hourly earnings rose by 5 cents, or 0.3 percent, over the month.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons increased by 861,000 to 8.5 million in May, after seasonal adjustment, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.5 per- centage point to 5.5 percent. A year earlier, the number of unemployed per- sons was 6.9 million, and the jobless rate was 4.5 percent. (See table A-1.)

The unemployment rates for adult men (4.9 percent), adult women (4.8 per- cent), teenagers (18.7 percent), whites (4.9 percent), and blacks (9.7 per- cent) rose in May. The jobless rate for Hispanics (6.9 percent) was unchanged. The unemployment rate for Asians was 3.8 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Among the unemployed, the number of reentrants and new entrants to the labor force rose in May, by 326,000 and 204,000, respectively. The number of persons who had lost their last job increased by 268,000 over the month to 4.3 million. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed job losers has risen by 907,000. (See table A-8.)

The number of newly unemployed--those jobless fewer than 5 weeks--rose by 760,000 to 3.2 million in May. The number of persons unemployed for 27 weeks or more increased by 197,000 to 1.6 million. This group accounted for 18.3 per- cent of the unemployed in May. (See table A-9.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The civilian labor force rose by 577,000 to 154.5 million in May, and the labor force participation rate edged up to 66.2 percent. Total employment was little changed at 146.0 million. The employment-population ratio, at 62.6 per- cent, also was little changed over the month. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons, at 5.2 mil- lion in May, was essentially unchanged over the month but was up by 764,000 over the past 12 months. These individuals indicated that they were working part time because their hours had been cut back or they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-5.)

About 7.7 million persons held more than one job in May. Multiple jobholders represented 5.3 percent of the employed, the same as a year earlier. (See table A-6.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

In May, about 1.4 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force, about the same as a year earlier. These individ- uals 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 400,000 discouraged workers in May, little changed from a year earlier. Discouraged workers were not currently looking for work specif- ically because they believed no jobs were available for them. The other 1.0 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in May had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend down in May (-49,000). Thus far in 2008, payroll employment has declined by 324,000. In May, job losses continued in construction, manufacturing, retail trade, and temporary help services. Health care again added jobs over the month. (See table B-1.)

Employment in construction fell by 34,000 in May. Since an employment peak in September 2006, construction has lost 475,000 jobs. Over the month, employ- ment declined among residential specialty trade contractors (-19,000) and in construction of buildings (-12,000).

Manufacturing employment continued to fall over the month (-26,000), with job losses in wood products (-8,000), computer and electronic products (-8,000), and nonmetallic mineral products (-5,000). Thus far in 2008, monthly job losses in manufacturing have averaged 41,000 compared with 22,000 a month in 2007 and 14,000 a month in 2006.

Retail trade employment decreased by 27,000 in May. Job losses in department stores (-15,000) and gasoline stations (-6,000) accounted for most of the decline. Since March 2007, retail trade has shed 184,000 jobs.

Employment in professional and business services was down in May (-39,000); the industry has lost 124,000 jobs in 2008. Over the month, employment in temporary help services continued to decline (-30,000) and has fallen by 193,000 since its most recent peak in December 2006. Accounting and book-keeping services also lost jobs (-10,000) over the month.

Employment continued to rise throughout health care in May (34,000). Job growth over the last 12 months has totaled 383,000.

Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, food services and drinking places em- ployment continued to trend up in May, but job growth in this industry has slowed recently. Employment gains averaged 12,000 per month from November through May, compared with 27,000 per month during the first 10 months of 2007.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

In May, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.7 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek also was unchanged at 41.0 hours, and factory overtime decreased by 0.2 hour to 3.8 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls fell by 0.1 percent in May to 107.1 (2002=100). The index has decreased by 0.6 percent in 2008. Over the month, the manufacturing index fell by 0.2 percent to 92.0. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

In May, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 5 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $17.94, seasonally adjusted. This followed gains of 6 cents in March and 2 cents in April. Average weekly earnings rose by 0.3 percent in May to $604.58. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings in- creased by 3.5 percent, and average weekly earnings rose by 3.2 percent. (See tables B-3 and B-4.)