Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until 

8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, June 3, 2022.

Statement of

William W. Beach

Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, June 3, 2022

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 390,000 in May, and 

the unemployment rate remained at 3.6 percent. Notable job gains 

occurred in leisure and hospitality, in professional and 

business services, and in transportation and warehousing.

Employment in retail trade declined.

Nonfarm employment is down by 822,000, or 0.5 percent, from 

its February 2020 level before the onset of the coronavirus 

(COVID-19) pandemic.

In May, employment growth continued in leisure and 

hospitality (+84,000), with gains in food services and drinking 

places (+46,000) and accommodation (+21,000). Employment in 

leisure and hospitality is down by 1.3 million, or 7.9 percent, 

from its February 2020 level.

Employment in professional and business services increased 

by 75,000 in May and is 821,000 above its February 2020 level. 

Job gains in May occurred in accounting and bookkeeping services 
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(+16,000), computer systems design and related services 

(+13,000), and scientific research and development services 

(+6,000).

Transportation and warehousing added 47,000 jobs in May, 

with gains in warehousing and storage (+18,000), truck 

transportation (+13,000), and air transportation (+6,000). 

Employment in transportation and warehousing is 709,000 above 

its February 2020 level.

Employment in construction increased by 36,000 in May, with 

growth in specialty trade contractors (+17,000) and heavy and 

civil engineering construction (+11,000). Construction 

employment is 40,000 higher than in February 2020.

In May, employment increased by 36,000 in state government

education and by 33,000 in private education. Employment in 

local government education was little changed (+14,000). 

Compared with February 2020, employment in state government 

education is up by 27,000, while employment in private education

has essentially recovered. Employment in local government 

education is 308,000 lower than its February 2020 level.

Health care employment rose by 28,000 in May, with most of 

the job growth in hospitals (+16,000). Employment in health care

is 223,000 below its February 2020 level.
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Manufacturing employment continued to trend up in May 

(+18,000). However, employment in the industry is slightly below 

(-17,000) its February 2020 level.

Employment in wholesale trade rose by 14,000 in May but is 

41,000 lower than in February 2020.

Mining employment increased by 6,000 in May. Since a recent 

low in February 2021, mining employment has grown by 80,000.

Retail trade employment declined by 61,000 in May, with job 

losses in general merchandise stores (-33,000), clothing and 

clothing accessories stores (-9,000), food and beverage stores 

(-8,000), building material and garden supply stores (-7,000), 

and health and personal care stores (-5,000). Despite the 

decrease in May, employment in retail trade is 159,000 higher 

than in February 2020.

Employment showed little change over the month in other 

major industries, including information, financial activities, 

and other services.

The average workweek for all private sector workers 

remained unchanged at 34.6 hours in May. The average workweek 

for manufacturing was little changed at 40.4 hours.

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls increased by 10 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $31.95 in 

May. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have 

increased by 5.2 percent.
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Turning to the labor market indicators from the household 

survey, the unemployment rate was 3.6 percent in May for the 

third month in a row, and the number of unemployed people was 

essentially unchanged at 6.0 million. Both measures are little 

different than their February 2020 levels (3.5 percent and 5.7 

million, respectively).

In May, the unemployment rate for Asians decreased to 2.4 

percent. The jobless rates for adult men (3.4 percent), adult 

women (3.4 percent), teenagers (10.4 percent), Whites (3.2 

percent), Blacks (6.2 percent), and Hispanics (4.3 percent) 

showed little or no change.

Among the unemployed, the number of permanent job losers 

was unchanged at 1.4 million in May. This measure is little 

different from its February 2020 level. The number of people on 

temporary layoff (810,000) changed little in May and is also 

little different from its February 2020 level.

In May, the number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or 

more (often referred to as the long-term unemployed) edged down 

to 1.4 million. This measure is 235,000 above its February 2020 

level. The long-term unemployed accounted for 23.2 percent of 

all unemployed people in May.

The labor force participation rate, at 62.3 percent, and 

the employment-population ratio, at 60.1 percent, changed little 
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in May. Both measures are 1.1 percentage points below their 

February 2020 levels.

In May, the number of people working part time for economic 

reasons rose by 295,000 to 4.3 million, reflecting an increase 

in the number of people whose hours were cut due to slack work 

or business conditions. The number of people working part time 

for economic reasons is little different from its February 2020

level.

The number of people not in the labor force who currently 

want a job was little changed at 5.7 million in May. This 

measure remains above its February 2020 level of 5.0 million.

Among those who were not in the labor force but wanted a 

job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor 

force, at 1.5 million, changed little in May. (People who are 

marginally attached to the labor force had not actively looked 

for work in the 4 weeks prior to the survey but wanted a job, 

were available for work, and had looked for a job within the 

last 12 months.) The number of discouraged workers, a subset of 

the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available 

for them, also changed little at 415,000 in May.

Looking at the supplemental pandemic-related measures from 

the household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally 

adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked because 

of the pandemic decreased to 7.4 percent in May. These data 
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refer only to employed people who teleworked or worked at home 

for pay at some point in the last 4 weeks specifically because 

of the pandemic; they do not include all instances of telework.

In May, the number of people who reported that they had 

been unable to work because their employer closed or lost 

business due to the pandemic was 1.8 million, little changed 

from the prior month. (These individuals did not work at all or 

worked fewer hours at some point in the last 4 weeks due to the 

pandemic.) Among those who reported in May that they were unable 

to work because of pandemic-related closures or lost business, 

19.9 percent received at least some pay from their employer for 

the hours not worked, also little changed from April.

Among those not in the labor force in May, 455,000 people 

were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic, down

from April. (To be counted as unemployed, by definition, 

individuals must either be actively searching for work or on 

temporary layoff.)

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 390,000

in May, and the unemployment rate held at 3.6 percent.