U.S. employment increased by 172,000 jobs in May, exceeding expectations for the third consecutive month.
By industry, job gains were largely concentrated in leisure and hospitality (+70,000), local government (+55,000) and healthcare (+35,200).
Revisions to prior months suggest stronger employment gains than initially reported. March’s employment increase was revised from 185,000 to 214,000, while April’s job gain was revised from 115,000 to 179,000.
May data presented mixed signals for the labor market for white collar jobs. On one hand, job posting data from Lightcast showed month-over-month (MoM) and year-over-year (YoY) growth for many skill sets supported by Aston Carter. Notable demand increases included accountants (+5,174 active job postings MoM), schedulers and operations coordinators (+2,286) and financial managers (+2,259). On the other hand, one of the largest employers of these jobs, the accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services industry, saw a decline of 5,400 jobs in May.
Average hourly earnings rose 3.4% in May, slowing from the annual gains of 3.7% to 3.9% observed between May 2025 and February 2026.
U.S. employment increased by 172,000 jobs in May, following a gain of 179,000 in April. Despite recent job growth, employment is only up by 0.3% compared to May 2025.
The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.3% for the third consecutive month. Unemployment rates close to 4.0% suggest a relatively limited supply of available jobseekers.
The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 61.8% between April and May. Participation among prime-age workers (ages 25-54) increased to 83.9%, remaining near historical highs, while participation among other age groups softened or stayed the same.
Layoffs declined from 1.9 million in March to 1.7 million in April. Quits declined from 3.2 million to 3.0 million. Quits and layoffs data lag one month behind other employment data.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics' Employment Situation Summary
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