For the month of May, payrolls in the public and private sector increased by 339,000, better than the 190,000 Dow Jones estimate and marking the 29th straight month of positive job growth. The unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage point to 3.7 percent.
- Professional and business services added 64,000 jobs.
- Employment growth continued in professional, scientific, and technical services, which added 43,000 jobs.
- Government employment increased by 56,000.
- Health care added 52,000.
- Employment in leisure and hospitality continued to trend up in May (+48,000), largely in food services and drinking places (+33,000). Leisure and hospitality had added an average of 77,000 jobs per month .
- Employment in transportation and warehousing increased by 24,000.
- Construction added 25,000 jobs.
Of course, ‘Debbie Downer’ searched “for reasons not to be excited….”
