U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls decrease 49,000 in May. Unemployment rate jumps. | CountingPips Forex & Currency Trading Blog

June 6, 2008 - Forex Economic News

U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls decrease 49,000 in May. Unemployment rate jumps.

U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls employment data was released today and the report showed that jobs fell in the month of May and the unemployment rate rose more than expected. The Department of Labor nonfarm payrolls report fell by 49,000 jobs in May following up a revised decrease of 28,000 jobs in April and marked the fifth straight month of decline. The decrease of jobs in May beat many economic forecasts which had expected a decrease of 60,000 jobs in May. The unemployment rate jumped up from 5.0 percent to 5.5 percent as the number of unemployed workers increased by 861,000 in May and this marked the biggest unemployment rate increase in 22 years. Economic forecasts had predicted that the unemployment rate would register 5.1 percent in May. The unemployment rate at the same time last year registered 4.5 percent.

Construction and manufacturing again were hard hit by job losses in May as they lost 34,000 jobs and 26,000 jobs, respectively. Retail trade employment showed a decline of 27,000 jobs lost in the month and professional and business services showed a decline of 39,000. Education and health services combined to show 54,000 jobs gained in the month with leisure and hospitality as well as government employment making small employment gains in May. Hourly earnings rose by 5 cents in May after April's rise of 1 cent.

Tags: employment, us nonfarm payrolls, unemployment rate

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