May 2008 Employment

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: MAY 2008

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, employment 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 percentage point to 5.5 percent. A year earlier, the number of unemployed persons 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 million 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 tableA-6.)