U.S. economy adds 217,000 jobs in May, unemployment holds steady

The Bureau of Labor Statistics delivered good news today with the announcement that total nonfarm payroll rose by 217,000 in May. It wasn’t enough to move the unemployment rate, which remains steady at 6.3 percent. These numbers are a concrete indicator that, however slowly, the U.S. economy has reached pre-recession employment levels and GDP is on track to grow at least 2 percent during 2014.

Consensus expectations were for the economy to add 213,000 jobs, and the good news was enough to lift the Dow Jones Industrial Average more than 50 points by mid morning. The number of unemployed people was also unchanged at 9.8 million. So far in 2014, the number of unemployed people has declined by 1.9 million.

According to the report, employment increased in processional and business services, health care and social assistance, food services and drinking places, and also transportation and warehousing.

From the report:

“Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (5.9 percent), adult women (5.7 percent), teenagers (19.2 percent), whites (5.4 percent), blacks (11.5 percent), and Hispanics (7.7 percent) showed little or no change in May. The jobless rate for Asians was 5.3 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier.”

More information from the report is available HERE.

 

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