Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until 
8:30 a.m. (ET) June 4, 2021.


                            Statement of

                          William W. Beach
                            Commissioner
                     Bureau of Labor Statistics

                        Friday, June 4, 2021


	Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 559,000 in May, 
and the unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 
5.8 percent. Notable job gains occurred in leisure and 
hospitality, in public and private education, and in health care 
and social assistance.
      
	Substantial job losses related to the coronavirus (COVID-
19) pandemic first occurred in March (-1.7 million) and April 
(-20.7 million) of 2020. As economic activity resumed, 
employment increased by 12.6 million from May through November 
but declined again in December (-306,000) following a surge in 
the number of coronavirus cases. Job growth restarted in January 
of this year, and nonfarm payroll employment has increased by 
2.4 million over the past 5 months. However, payroll employment 
is down by 7.6 million, or 5.0 percent, from the pre-pandemic 
employment peak in February 2020.
      
	Employment in leisure and hospitality rose by 292,000 in 
May, as pandemic-related restrictions continued to ease in some 
parts of the country. The industry has added 1.3 million jobs 
since January. Employment rose in food services and drinking 
places (+186,000); amusements, gambling, and recreation 
(+58,000); and accommodation (+35,000). Employment in leisure 
and hospitality is down by 2.5 million, or 15.0 percent, since 
February 2020. 
      
	In May, employment increased in local government education 
(+53,000), state government education (+50,000), and private 
education (+41,000), reflecting the continued resumption of 
in-person learning and other school-related activities in some 
parts of the country. However, since February 2020, employment 
is down in local government education (-556,000), state 
government education (-244,000), and private education 
(-293,000). 
      
	Health care and social assistance added 46,000 jobs in May. 
Employment in social assistance increased by 23,000, with most 
of the gain in child day care services (+18,000). Social 
assistance employment is 257,000 lower than in February 2020. 
Employment in health care continued to trend up in May 
(+23,000), with a gain in ambulatory health care services 
(+22,000). Health care employment is 508,000 below the February 
2020 level. 
      
	In May, employment in information rose by 29,000, with 
about half of the gain occurring in motion picture and sound 
recording industries (+14,000). Since February 2020, employment 
in information is down by 193,000. 
      
	Manufacturing employment increased by 23,000 in May, 
following a decline in the previous month (-32,000). The 
employment changes over the 2 months occurred primarily in motor 
vehicles and parts, which added 25,000 jobs in May, partially 
reversing a decrease in the previous month (-38,000). Overall, 
manufacturing employment is 509,000 lower than in February 2020. 
      
	Transportation and warehousing added 23,000 jobs in May, 
with employment gains in support activities for transportation 
(+10,000) and air transportation (+9,000). Since February 2020, 
employment in transportation and warehousing is down by 100,000. 
      
	In May, wholesale trade employment rose by 20,000, with 
most of the gain in the durable goods component (+14,000). 
Employment in wholesale trade is down by 211,000 since February 
2020.
      
	Construction employment edged down by 20,000 in May. Within 
the industry, nonresidential specialty trade contractors lost 
jobs over the month (-17,000). Employment in construction is 
225,000 lower than in February 2020.  
      
	Employment in professional and business services changed 
little in May (+35,000). Within the industry, employment 
continued to trend up in accounting and bookkeeping services 
(+14,000). Employment in temporary help services was little 
changed in May (+4,000), following a large decline in the 
previous month (-116,000). Overall, employment in professional 
and business services is down by 708,000 since February 2020. 
      
	Employment in retail trade changed little in May (-6,000). 
Food and beverage stores (-26,000) and health and personal care 
stores (-7,000) lost jobs, while clothing and clothing 
accessories stores (+11,000) and miscellaneous store retailers 
(+6,000) added jobs. Retail trade employment is 411,000 below 
the February 2020 level. 
      
	Employment in other major industries--including mining, 
financial activities, and other services--showed little change 
over the month. 
      
	In May, the average workweek for all private-sector workers 
was 34.9 hours for the third consecutive month. The average 
workweek for manufacturing increased by 0.1 hour to 40.5 hours 
in May. 
      
	Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 
payrolls increased by 15 cents to $30.33 in May, following an 
increase of 21 cents in the prior month. The data for April and 
May suggest that the rising demand for labor associated with the 
recovery from the pandemic may have put upward pressure on 
wages. However, because average hourly earnings vary widely 
across industries, the large employment fluctuations since 
February 2020 complicate the analysis of recent trends in 
average hourly earnings.
      
	Turning to the labor market indicators from the household 
survey, the unemployment rate fell by 0.3 percentage point to 
5.8 percent in May, and the number of unemployed people declined 
by 496,000 to 9.3 million. Both measures have fallen from their 
April 2020 peaks but remain well above their February 2020 
levels (3.5 percent and 5.7 million, respectively). 
      
	Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates 
decreased in May for teenagers (9.6 percent), Whites (5.1 
percent), and Hispanics (7.3 percent). The jobless rates for 
adult men (5.9 percent), adult women (5.4 percent), Blacks (9.1 
percent), and Asians (5.5 percent) showed little change.  

	Among the unemployed, the number of people on temporary 
layoff decreased by 291,000 to 1.8 million in May. This measure 
is down considerably from a high of 18.0 million in April 2020 
but is 1.1 million higher than in February 2020. The number of 
permanent job losers, at 3.2 million, declined by 295,000 in May 
but is 1.9 million higher than in February 2020.

	By duration of unemployment, the number of people 
unemployed for 27 weeks or more (often referred to as the long-
term unemployed) fell by 431,000 in May to 3.8 million but is up 
by 2.6 million since February 2020. In May, the long-term 
unemployed accounted for 40.9 percent of the unemployed. The 
number of people searching for work for less than 5 weeks 
decreased by 391,000 in May to 2.0 million. In contrast, the 
number of people who were jobless 5 to 14 weeks rose by 187,000 
to 2.1 million. 

	The labor force participation rate, at 61.6 percent, was 
little changed over the month and has remained within the narrow 
range of 61.4 percent to 61.7 percent since June 2020. This 
measure is 1.7 percentage points lower than in February 2020. 
The employment-population ratio, at 58.0 percent, also changed 
little in May but is 3.1 percentage points lower than in 
February 2020. 

	In May, 5.3 million people were working part time for 
economic reasons, essentially unchanged from the previous month. 
The number of people affected by this type of underemployment is 
down from a peak of 10.9 million in April 2020 but is 873,000 
higher than in February 2020.

	At 6.6 million, the number of people not in the labor force 
who currently want a job was essentially unchanged in May. This 
measure is down from a peak of 9.9 million in April 2020 but is 
1.6 million higher than in February 2020. Among those not in the 
labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally 
attached to the labor force was little changed at 2.0 million in 
May. (People who are marginally attached to the labor force had 
not actively looked for work in the 4 weeks prior to the survey 
but 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 also little 
changed over the month, at 600,000. 

	As in previous months, some workers affected by the 
pandemic who should have been classified as unemployed on 
temporary layoff in May were instead misclassified as employed 
but not at work. Since March 2020, BLS has published an estimate 
of what the unemployment rate would have been had misclassified 
workers been included among the unemployed. Repeating this same 
approach, the seasonally adjusted May unemployment rate would 
have been 0.3 percentage point higher than reported. Additional 
information about the misclassification, as well as information 
about response rates for both the household and establishment 
surveys, is available on the BLS website at 
www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-situation-covid19-faq-may-
2021.htm. 
      
	Looking at supplemental pandemic-related measures from 
the household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally 
adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked in May 
because of the coronavirus pandemic declined to 16.6 percent. 
These data refer only to employed people who teleworked or 
worked at home for pay at some point in the last 4 weeks 
specifically because of the pandemic; they do not include all 
instances of telework. 
      
	In May, the number of people who 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--fell by 1.5 million to 7.9 million. 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 prior month. 
      
	Among those not in the labor force in May, 2.5 million 
people were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic, 
down from 2.8 million in the prior month. (To be counted as 
unemployed, by definition, individuals must either be actively 
searching for work or on temporary layoff.)
      
	In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 559,000 in 
May, and the unemployment rate declined to 5.8 percent.