Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press 

under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that 

the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. 

Statement of 

Erica L. Groshen 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday, June 7, 2013

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 175,000 in May, and 

the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 7.6 percent. 

Over the prior 12 months, job gains averaged 172,000 per month. 

In May, employment increased in professional and business 

services, food services and drinking places, and retail trade. 

Employment in professional and business services grew by 

57,000 over the month and by 589,000 over the year. In May, 

employment continued to trend up in temporary help services 

(+26,000), computer systems design (+6,000), and architectural 

and engineering services (+5,000). 

Food services and drinking places added 38,000 jobs in May. 

Employment in the industry has risen by 337,000 in the past 12 

months. 
2 

Retail trade employment increased by 28,000 in May, as 

general merchandise stores continued to add jobs (+10,000). Over 

the past 12 months, retail trade has added 258,000 jobs. 

In May, health care employment continued to trend up 

(+11,000). Job gains in home health care services (+7,000) and 

outpatient care centers (+4,000) more than offset a loss in 

hospitals (-6,000). 

Within government, federal government employment declined 

by 14,000 in May. Over the past 3 months, federal government 

employment has decreased by 45,000. 

Employment in other major industries showed little or no 

change in May. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls changed little in May (+1 cent). Over the past 12 

months, average hourly earnings have risen by 46 cents, or 2.0 

percent. From April 2012 to April 2013, the Consumer Price Index 

for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 1.1 percent. 

Turning now to our survey of households, the unemployment 

rate, at 7.6 percent, was essentially unchanged in May and has 

shown little movement since February. The number of unemployed 

persons, at 11.8 million, was little changed over the month. 

The labor force participation rate was essentially 

unchanged at 63.4 percent in May. Over the year, the labor force 

participation rate has declined by 0.4 percentage point. 
3 

The employment-population ratio, at 58.6 percent, was 

unchanged in May and has shown little movement, on net, in the 

past 12 months. 

Among persons who were neither working nor looking for work 

in May, 2.2 million were classified as marginally attached to 

the labor force, down by 259,000 from a year earlier. These 

individuals had not 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, was 780,000 in May, essentially 

unchanged from a year earlier. 

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 175,000 

in May, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 

7.6 percent.