Hey everyone! Time to check out the latest job report for May 2024. Here’s the scoop on what’s happening in the job market.
Job Boom
May was a solid month for job growth, with 272,000 new jobs added. Here’s where the action was:
Health Care: Big gains here, with 68,000 new jobs. Ambulatory health care services (+43,000), hospitals (+15,000), and nursing/residential care facilities (+11,000) were the top contributors.
Government: Added 43,000 jobs, staying consistent with its monthly average.
Leisure and Hospitality: Continued to climb with 42,000 new jobs, including 25,000 in food services and drinking places.
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services: Saw a boost of 32,000 jobs, with strong growth in consulting services (+14,000) and architectural/engineering services (+10,000).
Unemployment Rate
The unemployment rate edged up slightly to 4.0%. Not a huge change, but something to keep an eye on. This rate has been hovering around 3.7% to 4.0% for the past year.
Wage Growth
Good news on the wage front! Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 14 cents to $34.91. That’s a 4.1% increase over the past year. For production and nonsupervisory employees, wages went up by 14 cents to $29.99.
Workin’ It Out
Part-time Workers: The number of people working part-time for economic reasons stayed about the same at 4.4 million.
Long-term Unemployment: The number of long-term unemployed (jobless for 27 weeks or more) remained steady at 1.4 million, making up 20.7% of all unemployed people.
Wrap Up
Overall, May 2024 was a strong month for job growth, with significant gains across several key industries. The unemployment rate ticked up a bit, but wages are on the rise, and there’s plenty of job action happening. Keep an eye on these trends as we move into summer and see how the job market continues to evolve.
Comments