The job growth continued in May as the nonfarm payroll increased more than expected, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics…(BLS)
- Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 390,000 and the unemployment rate remained at 3.6% in May.
- Economists had projected a smaller gain of of 328,000
NOTE: Employment is now only down by 822,000, or 0.5 percent, from its pre-pandemic level in February 2020.
Leisure & hospitality continue to lead the way with 84,000 jobs created in May…
- Professional & business services came in at number two with a jump of 75,000 jobs followed by transportation & warehousing (+47k) and construction and state government with each sector creating 36,000 jobs.
NOTE: Payroll numbers were revised downward for March by 30,000 and there was an upward revision for April of 8,000.
Wage growth continues to stall in May for both average hourly and weekly earnings…
- Average hourly earnings were up 0.3% for the month and are up 5.2% year-over-year.
- Average weekly earnings were also up 0.3% for the month and are up 4.3% year-over-year.
NOTE: While wages rose with inflation for the month at 0.3% they are still almost half of the 8.3% inflation rate according to the latest CPI print.
The big takeaway seemed to be that these jobs numbers belie the claims that we are currently in a recession…
- Conor Sen:“1.2 million jobs created in the last 3 months — this isn’t anything close to a recession.” (Twitter)
- Joe Weisenthal: “This doesn’t look like we’re in a recession” (Twitter)