Economy: Employment Situation Report for May 2021

The Employment Situation Report for May 2021 was released by The Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning:

Nonfarm Payrolls (month-to-month change)
Predicted: +500,000
Actual: +559,000

U-3 Unemployment Rate (Headline)
Actual: 5.8%
Previous Month: 6.1%
12 Months Previous: 13.3%

U-6 Unemployment Rate*
Actual: 10.2%
Previous Month: 10.4%
12 Months Previous: 21.2%

Average Hourly Earnings (month-to-month change)
Predicted: +0.3%
Actual: +0.55% (+$0.14)

Average Hourly Earnings (year-on-year change)
Predicted: +2.0%
Actual: +2.359% (+$0.59)

Average Weekly Earnings (month-to-month change)
Actual: +0.258% (+$2.26)

Average Weekly Earnings (year-on-year change)
Actual: +2.96% (+$25.24)

Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate: 61.6%
Previous Month: 61.7%
12 Months Previous: 60.8%

Average Workweek
Predicted: 34.9 hours
Actual: 34.9 hours

Economist, academics, central bankers and investors pay very close attention to the monthly Employment Situation report as it offers penetrating insight as to the current and near-future state of the overall U.S. economy. If a) Americans are earning more money and b) the economy is creating new jobs, this typically translates to more money being pumped into the economy (and vice versa.)

The "predicted" figure is what economists were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

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From Today's Report:

"...The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for March was revised up by 15,000, from +770,000 to +785,000, and the change for April was revised up by 12,000, from +266,000 to +278,000. With these revisions, employment in March and April combined is 27,000 higher than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors.)..."

"...In May, 16.6 percent of employed persons teleworked because of the coronavirus pandemic, down from 18.3 percent in the prior month. These data refer to employed persons who teleworked or worked at home for pay at some point in the last 4 weeks specifically because of the pandemic.

In May, 7.9 million persons 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. This measure is down from 9.4 million in the previous month.

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 previous month.

Among those not in the labor force in May, 2.5 million persons were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic. This measure is down from 2.8 million the month before. (To be counted as unemployed, by definition, individuals must be either actively looking for work or on temporary layoff.)..."

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CHART: Nonfarm Payroll Employment
May 2021 Update

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CHART: U-3 (Headline) Unemployment Rate
May 2021 Update

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* = The U-6 Unemployment Rate is defined as:

"Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force."

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