The U.S. economy added 38,000 jobs in May and unemployment fell to 4.7%, down from 5.0% in April, according to figures released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In response to the May jobs numbers, AFL-CIO Chief Economist William Spriggs said:
The report continues to document the headwinds of the global slowdown on manufacturing employment. Combined with modest wage gains, the Fed must consider the high downside undercurrents in the data to sustaining the growth of the economy.
Spriggs also tweeted the following:
Oooops Fed Hawks, not so fast, payroll employment up only 38,000 in May @aflcio
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) June 3, 2016
Unemployment rate edeges down to 4.7%, but the share of people in the labor force also edged down @AFLCIO
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) June 3, 2016
Nominal wages, over the year, are up 2.5% Still very modest gains. No reasons in this @BLS_gov for the Fed to raise rates in June @AFLCIO
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) June 3, 2016
Black unemployment rate falls to 8.2% from 8.8% a two month trend, as share employed edges up to 56% @rolandsmartin @LVBurke @AFLCIO @CBTU72
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) June 3, 2016
Construction jobs were off in May by 15,000 @AFLCIO We still need infrastructure investment in America and American workers to increase
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) June 3, 2016
State government employment still a drag on the economy down 7,000 @AFSCME @AFLCIO
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) June 3, 2016
Last month’s biggest job gains were in health care (46,000). The mining industry and employment in information saw losses. According to BLS, other major industries, including construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, leisure and hospitality, and government, changed little over the month.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.3%), adult women (4.2%), whites (4.1%), and Hispanics (5.6%) declined in May. The rates for teenagers (16.0%), blacks (8.2%), and Asians (4.1%) showed little or no change.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) declined to 1.9 million in May and accounted for 25.1% of the unemployed.