Job growth accelerated in May. Total payroll employment rose by 339,000 and the unemployment rate rose to 3.7%. While labor demand remained strong, wage pressures eased from a year ago. In May, wage growth slowed to a 4.3% year-over-year gain, from 4.4% last month, and down 1.6 percentage points from a 5.9% gain in March 2022. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 339,000 in May, following a gain of 294,000 in April, as reported in the Employment Situation Summary. It marks the largest monthly gain in the past four months. The estimates for the previous two months were revised up. The estimate for March was revised up by 52,000 from +165,000 to +217,000, while the April increase was revised up by 41,000, from +253,000 to +294,000. Despite tight monetary policy, nearly 5.1 million jobs have been created since March 2022, when the Fed enacted the first interest rate hike. In the first five months of 2023, more than 1.6 million jobs were created, and monthly employment growth averaged 314,000 per month. The unemployment rate increased by 0.3 percentage points to 3.7% in May. The number of unemployed persons increased by 440,000, while the number of employed persons decreased by 310,000. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate, the proportion of the population either looking for a job or already holding a job, was unchanged at 62.6% in May. Moreover, the labor force participation rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 rose to 83.4%. While the overall labor force participation rate is still below its pre-pandemic levels at the beginning of 2020, the rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 exceeds the pre-pandemic level of 83.1%. For industry sectors, professional and business services (+64,000), government (+56,000), and health care (+52,000) led job gains in May. Employment in the overall construction sector increased by 25,000 in May, following a 13,000 gain in April. While residential construction added 2,500 jobs, non-residential construction employment gained 22,100 jobs in May. Residential construction employment now stands at 3.3 million in May, broken down as 933,000 builders and 2.3 million residential specialty trade contractors. The 6-month moving average of job gains for residential construction was 1,667 a month. Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers added 39,100 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,278,500 positions. In May, the unemployment rate for construction workers increased by 0.3 percentage points to 3.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unemployment rate for construction workers has been trending lower, after reaching 14.2% in April 2020, due to the housing demand impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Related ‹ Private Residential Construction Spending Rises in AprilTags: employment, labor force, labor force participation rate, residential construction employment, wage

Job gains continued in April, despite rising interest rates and a slowing economy. After a revised 165,000 job gain in March, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 253,000 in April, and the unemployment rate declined to 3.4% from 3.5% in March. In April, on a year-over-year basis, wage growth increased slightly to 4.4% from 4.3% last month, but down compared to a 5.8% gain in April 2022. Construction industry employment (both residential and non-residential) totaled 7.9 million and exceeds its February 2020 level. While residential construction added 14,200 jobs, non-residential construction employment gained 800 jobs in April. Residential construction employment exceeds its level in February 2020, while all non-residential construction jobs lost in March and April 2020 have now been recovered. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 253,000 in April, following a gain of 165,000 in March, as reported in the Employment Situation Summary. The estimates for the previous two months were revised lower. The estimate for February was revised down by 78,000 from +326,000 to +248,000, while the March increase was revised down by 71,000, from +236,000 to +165,000. Despite tight monetary policy, over 4.7 million jobs have been created since March 2022, when the Fed enacted the first interest rate hike. The unemployment rate edged down to 3.4% in April. The number of employed persons increased by 139,000, while the number of unemployed persons decreased by 182,000. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate, the proportion of the population either looking for a job or already holding a job, was unchanged at 62.6% in April. Moreover, the labor force participation rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 rose to 83.3%. While the overall labor force participation rate is still below its pre-pandemic levels at the beginning of 2020, the rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 exceeds the pre-pandemic level of 83.1%. For industry sectors, employment in professional and business services (+43,000), health care (+40,000), and leisure and hospitality (+31,000) continued to trend up in April. Employment in the overall construction sector increased by 15,000 in April, following an 11,000 loss in March. While residential construction added 14,200 jobs, non-residential construction employment gained 800 jobs in April. Residential construction employment now stands at 3.3 million in April, broken down as 930,000 builders and 2.3 million residential specialty trade contractors. The 6-month moving average of job gains for residential construction was 1,583 a month. Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers added 57,000 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,279,800 positions. In April, the unemployment rate for construction workers decreased by 0.8 percentage points to 3.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unemployment rate for construction workers has been trending lower, after reaching 14.2% in April 2020, due to the housing demand impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Related ‹ Unaffordable Prices Are Most Common Reason Buyers Can’t Make PurchaseTags: employment, labor force, labor force participation rate, residential construction employment, wage

Job growth slowed in March, along with higher interest rates and increased economic uncertainty. After a revised 326,000 job gain in February, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 236,000 in March, and the unemployment rate declined to 3.5% from 3.6% in February. Average hourly earnings have increased by 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. It marks the lowest wage gain since June 2021, suggesting inflationary pressures are easing. Construction industry employment (both residential and non-residential) totaled 7.9 million and exceeds its February 2020 level. Both residential construction (-7,000) and non-residential construction employment (-1,800) saw job losses in March. Residential construction employment exceeds its level in February 2020, while all non-residential construction jobs lost in March and April 2020 have now been recovered. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 236,000 in March, following a gain of 326,000 in February, as reported in the Employment Situation Summary. It marks the slowest monthly gain in more than two years. The estimates for the previous two months were revised. The estimate for January was revised down by 32,000 from +504,000 to +472,000, while the February increase was revised up by 15,000, from +311,000 to +326,000. Despite tight monetary policy, over 4.6 million jobs have been created since March 2022, when the Fed enacted the first interest rate hike. The unemployment rate edged down to 3.5% in March. The number of employed persons increased by 577,000, while the number of unemployed persons decreased by 97,000. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate, the proportion of the population either looking for a job or already holding a job, edged up 0.1 percentage point to 62.6% in March, reflecting both an increase in the number of persons in the labor force (+480,000) and a decrease in the number of persons not in the labor force (-320,000). Moreover, the labor force participation rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 remained at 83.1%. While the overall labor force participation rate is still below its pre-pandemic levels at the beginning of 2020, the rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 is back to the pre-pandemic level. For industry sectors, employment in leisure and hospitality (+72,000), government (+47,000), professional and business services (+39,000), and health care (+34,000) continued to trend up in March. Employment in the overall construction sector decreased by 9,000 in March, following a 12,000 gain in February. While residential construction shed 7,000 jobs, non-residential construction employment lost 1,800 jobs in March. Residential construction employment now stands at 3.2 million in March, broken down as 934,000 builders and 2.3 million residential specialty trade contractors. The 6-month moving average of job gains for residential construction was 700 a month, reflecting three monthly job losses that occurred in November 2022, January, and March 2023. Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers added 46,300 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,263,100 positions. In March, the unemployment rate for construction workers decreased by 0.5 percentage points to 4.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unemployment rate for construction workers has been trending lower, after reaching 14.2% in April 2020, due to the housing demand impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Related ‹ States and Construction Trades Most Reliant on Immigrant Workers, 2021Tags: employment, labor force, labor force participation rate, residential construction employment, wage