The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in May according to the monthly employment report released today by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This seasonally adjusted figure is a 40.2 percent increase from April's downwardly revised addition of 159,000 jobs, and marks a 43.8 percent increase from last May, when 155,000 jobs were created. This number exceeds economists' expectations that 190,000 jobs would be added last month.
In May, unemployment rate dropped 0.1 points to 3.8 percent, marking the lowest unemployment level since 2000. (The rate first fell below 4 percent last month.)
Average hourly earnings for employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 8 cents in May to $26.92, a 71-cent (or 2.7 percent) increase from a year prior.
In May, overall construction industry employment increased by 25,000 positions, to a total of 7.21 million jobs. In the 12-month period since this last year, construction employment has risen by 286,000 positions. Employment related to the construction of nonresidential buildings fell by 4,400 positions last month, while the number of positions in residential construction rose by 4,600 in May, resulting in a relatively unchanged total of 1.59 million total jobs. In heavy and civil engineering, the number of positions increased by 5,000, while employment of specialty trade contractors spiked by 20,500 positions.
Employment in the manufacturing industry rose by 18,000 jobs in May, with gains attributable to an increase of 15,000 jobs in durable goods industries.
Meanwhile, payrolls in architectural and engineering services remained relatively the same in May with an addition of 800 roles, for an unchanged rounded total of 1.46 million positions.
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