Nonfarm Payrolls Report Shows Job Growth Steady

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Nonfarm Payrolls, which is one of the most closely followed gauges regarding the state of the economy, increased by 217K in the month of May.

The increase in the number of new jobs was largely in line with the consensus estimates for an increase of 218K but below with April’s revised 282K (March: 203K, February: 197K, January: 129K December: 84K, November: 244K, October: 200K, September: 163K August: 193K, July: 89K).

As usual, there were revisions to the prior two months’ reports. March’s report saw no change from 203K while April’s job totals was also revised lower by 6K to 282K from 228K.

The new report shows the economy created 6,000 fewer new jobs in the prior two months than had been previously reported.

Average job growth for the last three months is now 234K (down from last month’s level of 238K).

Related Link: Nonfarm Payrolls Give Market A Small Boost

The private sector job growth continued strong in May. The Private sector produced 216,000 jobs, which was above the 179,000 level reported in Wednesday’s ADP report.

The nation’s Unemployment Rate held steady at 6.3 percent in May and is still down significantly from the 6.7 percent level seen in March (March: 6.7 percent, February: 6.7 percent, January: 6.6 percent, December: 6.7 percent, November: 7.0 percent). This was higher than expectations for a rate of 6.6 percent.

May’s unemployment rate is the lowest since September 2008.

The Labor Force Participation Rate came in unchanged for the month at 62.8 percent (April: 62.8 percent, March: 63.2 percent, February: 63.0, January: 63.0 percent, December: 62.3 percent, November: 63.0 percent).

The report noted that payroll totals now exceed the pre-2008 levels.

Next, the average number of weekly hours worked was reported at 34.5, which was in line with the expectations for 34.5 and last month’s 34.5.

Finally, the average hourly earnings of workers increased by 0.2 percent, which was in line with the consensus expectations for an increase of 0.2 percent.

Stock futures have improved on the news.