Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until 

8:30 a.m. (ET) June 4, 2021. 

Statement of

William W. Beach

Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, June 4, 2021

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 559,000 in May, 

and the unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 

5.8 percent. Notable job gains occurred in leisure and 

hospitality, in public and private education, and in health care 

and social assistance.

Substantial job losses related to the coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic first occurred in March (-1.7 million) and April 

(-20.7 million) of 2020. As economic activity resumed, 

employment increased by 12.6 million from May through November

but declined again in December (-306,000) following a surge in

the number of coronavirus cases. Job growth restarted in January

of this year, and nonfarm payroll employment has increased by

2.4 million over the past 5 months. However, payroll employment

is down by 7.6 million, or 5.0 percent, from the pre-pandemic

employment peak in February 2020.
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Employment in leisure and hospitality rose by 292,000 in 

May, as pandemic-related restrictions continued to ease in some 

parts of the country. The industry has added 1.3 million jobs

since January. Employment rose in food services and drinking 

places (+186,000); amusements, gambling, and recreation 

(+58,000); and accommodation (+35,000). Employment in leisure 

and hospitality is down by 2.5 million, or 15.0 percent, since 

February 2020. 

In May, employment increased in local government education

(+53,000), state government education (+50,000), and private 

education (+41,000), reflecting the continued resumption of 

in-person learning and other school-related activities in some 

parts of the country. However, since February 2020, employment 

is down in local government education (-556,000), state 

government education (-244,000), and private education 

(-293,000). 

Health care and social assistance added 46,000 jobs in May. 

Employment in social assistance increased by 23,000, with most 

of the gain in child day care services (+18,000). Social 

assistance employment is 257,000 lower than in February 2020. 

Employment in health care continued to trend up in May 

(+23,000), with a gain in ambulatory health care services 

(+22,000). Health care employment is 508,000 below the February 

2020 level. 
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In May, employment in information rose by 29,000, with 

about half of the gain occurring in motion picture and sound 

recording industries (+14,000). Since February 2020, employment 

in information is down by 193,000. 

Manufacturing employment increased by 23,000 in May, 

following a decline in the previous month (-32,000). The 

employment changes over the 2 months occurred primarily in motor 

vehicles and parts, which added 25,000 jobs in May, partially 

reversing a decrease in the previous month (-38,000). Overall, 

manufacturing employment is 509,000 lower than in February 2020. 

Transportation and warehousing added 23,000 jobs in May, 

with employment gains in support activities for transportation 

(+10,000) and air transportation (+9,000). Since February 2020, 

employment in transportation and warehousing is down by 100,000. 

In May, wholesale trade employment rose by 20,000, with 

most of the gain in the durable goods component (+14,000). 

Employment in wholesale trade is down by 211,000 since February 

2020.

Construction employment edged down by 20,000 in May. Within 

the industry, nonresidential specialty trade contractors lost 

jobs over the month (-17,000). Employment in construction is 

225,000 lower than in February 2020. 

Employment in professional and business services changed 

little in May (+35,000). Within the industry, employment 
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continued to trend up in accounting and bookkeeping services 

(+14,000). Employment in temporary help services was little 

changed in May (+4,000), following a large decline in the 

previous month (-116,000). Overall, employment in professional 

and business services is down by 708,000 since February 2020. 

Employment in retail trade changed little in May (-6,000). 

Food and beverage stores (-26,000) and health and personal care 

stores (-7,000) lost jobs, while clothing and clothing 

accessories stores (+11,000) and miscellaneous store retailers 

(+6,000) added jobs. Retail trade employment is 411,000 below 

the February 2020 level. 

Employment in other major industries--including mining, 

financial activities, and other services--showed little change 

over the month. 

In May, the average workweek for all private-sector workers

was 34.9 hours for the third consecutive month. The average 

workweek for manufacturing increased by 0.1 hour to 40.5 hours

in May. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls increased by 15 cents to $30.33 in May, following an 

increase of 21 cents in the prior month. The data for April and 

May suggest that the rising demand for labor associated with the 

recovery from the pandemic may have put upward pressure on 

wages. However, because average hourly earnings vary widely 
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across industries, the large employment fluctuations since 

February 2020 complicate the analysis of recent trends in 

average hourly earnings.

Turning to the labor market indicators from the household 

survey, the unemployment rate fell by 0.3 percentage point to 

5.8 percent in May, and the number of unemployed people declined 

by 496,000 to 9.3 million. Both measures have fallen from their 

April 2020 peaks but remain well above their February 2020 

levels (3.5 percent and 5.7 million, respectively). 

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates

decreased in May for teenagers (9.6 percent), Whites (5.1 

percent), and Hispanics (7.3 percent). The jobless rates for 

adult men (5.9 percent), adult women (5.4 percent), Blacks (9.1 

percent), and Asians (5.5 percent) showed little change. 

Among the unemployed, the number of people on temporary 

layoff decreased by 291,000 to 1.8 million in May. This measure 

is down considerably from a high of 18.0 million in April 2020 

but is 1.1 million higher than in February 2020. The number of 

permanent job losers, at 3.2 million, declined by 295,000 in May 

but is 1.9 million higher than in February 2020.

By duration of unemployment, the number of people 

unemployed for 27 weeks or more (often referred to as the longterm unemployed) fell by 431,000 in May to 3.8 million but is up 

by 2.6 million since February 2020. In May, the long-term 
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unemployed accounted for 40.9 percent of the unemployed. The

number of people searching for work for less than 5 weeks 

decreased by 391,000 in May to 2.0 million. In contrast, the 

number of people who were jobless 5 to 14 weeks rose by 187,000 

to 2.1 million. 

The labor force participation rate, at 61.6 percent, was 

little changed over the month and has remained within the narrow 

range of 61.4 percent to 61.7 percent since June 2020. This 

measure is 1.7 percentage points lower than in February 2020. 

The employment-population ratio, at 58.0 percent, also changed 

little in May but is 3.1 percentage points lower than in 

February 2020. 

In May, 5.3 million people were working part time for 

economic reasons, essentially unchanged from the previous month. 

The number of people affected by this type of underemployment is

down from a peak of 10.9 million in April 2020 but is 873,000

higher than in February 2020.

At 6.6 million, the number of people not in the labor force 

who currently want a job was essentially unchanged in May. This 

measure is down from a peak of 9.9 million in April 2020 but is 

1.6 million higher than in February 2020. Among those not in the 

labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally 

attached to the labor force was little changed at 2.0 million in 

May. (People who are marginally attached to the labor force had 
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not actively looked for work in the 4 weeks prior to the survey 

but 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, was also little 

changed over the month, at 600,000. 

As in previous months, some workers affected by the 

pandemic who should have been classified as unemployed on 

temporary layoff in May were instead misclassified as employed 

but not at work. Since March 2020, BLS has published an estimate 

of what the unemployment rate would have been had misclassified 

workers been included among the unemployed. Repeating this same 

approach, the seasonally adjusted May unemployment rate would 

have been 0.3 percentage point higher than reported. Additional 

information about the misclassification, as well as information 

about response rates for both the household and establishment 

surveys, is available on the BLS website at 

www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-situation-covid19-faq-may2021.htm. 

Looking at supplemental pandemic-related measures from the 

household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally 

adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked in May

because of the coronavirus pandemic declined to 16.6 percent. 

These data refer only to employed people who teleworked or 

worked at home for pay at some point in the last 4 weeks 
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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--that is, they did not work at all 

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

the pandemic--fell by 1.5 million to 7.9 million. Among those 

who reported in May that they were unable to work because of 

pandemic-related closures or lost business, 9.3 percent received 

at least some pay from their employer for the hours not worked, 

unchanged from the prior month. 

Among those not in the labor force in May, 2.5 million 

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

down from 2.8 million in the prior month. (To be counted as 

unemployed, by definition, individuals must either be actively 

searching for work or on temporary layoff.)

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 559,000 in 

May, and the unemployment rate declined to 5.8 percent.