U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 172,000 in May, significantly exceeding expectations, with prior two-month data revised upward by a combined 93,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%. Job gains were driven by the food services, healthcare, and local government sectors. Below is the full nonfarm payroll employment report.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that nonfarm payroll employment increased by 172,000 in May, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.3%. Job gains were concentrated in leisure and hospitality, local government, and health care, while employment in the financial sector declined.
This press release presents data from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment, and classifies results by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings across industries.
Household Survey Data
Key labor market indicators from the household survey showed little change in May. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, having fluctuated within a narrow range of 4.3% to 4.5% since July 2025. The number of unemployed persons was 7.3 million, showing little change this month.
By major worker groups, the unemployment rate in May was 4.0% for adult men, 3.8% for adult women, 14.7% for teenagers, 3.8% for Whites, 6.6% for Blacks, 3.8% for Asians, and 5.0% for Hispanics. Unemployment rates for these groups changed little.
In May, the number of people unemployed for fewer than five weeks decreased by 286,000 to 2.2 million, largely offsetting the prior month’s increase. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 2.0 million but rose by 524,000 compared with a year earlier. Long-term unemployed individuals accounted for 27.5% of total unemployment in May.
The labor force participation rate remained at 61.8% in May, and the employment-population ratio was little changed at 59.2%. Following annual population adjustments, these indicators showed little year-over-year change.
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons was 4.8 million, showing little change this month. These individuals desired full-time employment but worked part time due to reduced hours or an inability to find full-time jobs.
In May, 6.2 million persons not in the labor force wanted a job, with little change this month. These individuals are not counted as unemployed because they had not actively looked for work in the four weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job.
Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of marginally attached workers was 1.7 million in May, showing little change. These individuals had looked for work sometime in the past 12 months but were not actively seeking employment in the four weeks prior to the survey. Discouraged workers—marginally attached individuals who believed no jobs were available for them—numbered 486,000, essentially unchanged from last month.
Business Survey Data
Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 172,000 in May, similar to the gain of 179,000 in April. Job growth in May was primarily concentrated in leisure and hospitality, local government, and healthcare, while employment in financial activities declined.
The leisure and hospitality sector added 70,000 jobs in May, significantly higher than its average monthly gain of 14,000 over the past 12 months. Within this sector, food services and drinking places added 48,000 jobs.
Local government employment rose by 55,000 in May, driven mainly by an increase of 44,000 jobs in local government (excluding education).
Healthcare added 35,000 jobs in May, roughly in line with its average monthly gain of 38,000 over the past 12 months. Outpatient care services contributed 26,000 of these jobs, including 11,000 in home healthcare services. Hospital employment continued to grow (+6,000).
Social assistance employment continued to expand in May (+12,000), primarily driven by personal and family services (+10,000). Over the past 12 months, the social assistance sector has added an average of 17,000 jobs per month.
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction added 5,000 jobs in May, bringing total gains since February 2025 to 10,000.
Financial activities employment declined by 22,000 in May, down 107,000 from its recent peak in May 2025. This month’s losses were concentrated in insurance carriers and related activities (−11,000) and commercial banking (−3,000).
Transportation and warehousing employment was essentially unchanged in May (+1,000), down 92,000 from its peak in February 2025. Gains this month occurred in transit and ground passenger transportation (+9,000) and warehousing and storage (+6,000), while air transportation lost 9,000 jobs, largely due to business closures.
Other major sectors—including construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade, information, professional and business services, and other services—saw little change in employment this month.
In May, average hourly earnings for all private nonfarm employees increased by $0.12, or 0.3%, to $37.53. This represents a 3.4% increase year-over-year. Average hourly earnings for private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by $0.08, or 0.2%, to $32.31.
In May, the average workweek for all private nonfarm employees remained unchanged at 34.3 hours. The average workweek in manufacturing held steady at 40.4 hours, with overtime increasing slightly to 3.1 hours. The average workweek for private nonfarm production and nonsupervisory employees remained at 33.8 hours.
The March nonfarm payroll change was revised upward by 29,000, from +185,000 to +214,000. The April figure was revised upward by 64,000, from +115,000 to +179,000. Combined, the revisions show that employment in March and April was 93,000 higher than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates, as well as recalculations of seasonal factors.)
The June employment report is scheduled for release on July 2, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (8:30 p.m. Beijing Time).
Editor/Rocky