After a surprising number on the job openings in the JOLTS earlier in the week, another upside surprise today, as the number of filled jobs rose by 172,000 in May. Even better, the March numbers were revised up by 29,000 and April’s by 64,000; indicating a pretty rapidly growing job market. The household survey similarly displayed an uptick in people who said they were working. The unemployment rate, also derived from the household survey, was unchanged, as more people were looking for work. Hourly earnings rose by a little over 3%, which isn’t enough given inflationary trends. I will say that what is astounding is how many in the working population aren’t working, and I don’t think want to work. We have to find a way to incentivize these people to work or penalize them for not working.
Leisure and hospitality added 70,000 jobs in May and unfortunately local government added 55,000. Health care, which has been a major source of job growth, added 35,000 in May, while financial services declined by 22,000. Another negative was full-time jobs dropping by 79,000 while part-time ones rose 266,000. A positive note is that foreign-born workers dropped, a sign of continued removal of illegal immigrants, while native-born ones increased substantially. I would say that while the report can be nitpicked, generally it shows an economy that is growing and providing new jobs. (BLS Release)
