TED: The Economics Daily

PRINT:

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 139,000 in May 2025

June 13, 2025

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 139,000 in May, similar to the average monthly gain of 149,000 over the prior 12 months. In May, employment continued to trend up in health care, leisure and hospitality, and social assistance. Federal government continued to lose jobs.

Chart Image
Chart Data

1-month changes in industry employment, May 2025, seasonally adjusted
Industry	Employment change
Mining and logging	-1,000
Logging	-400
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction	-900
Oil and gas extraction	200
Mining (except oil and gas)	600
Coal mining	-100
Metal ore mining	-200
Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying	900
Support activities for mining	-1,700
Construction	4,000
Construction of buildings	6,700
Residential building construction	3,600
Nonresidential building construction	3,100
Heavy and civil engineering construction	3,700
Specialty trade contractors	-6,500
Residential specialty trade contractors	-11,000
Nonresidential specialty trade contractors	4,500
Manufacturing	-8,000
Durable goods	-7,000
Wood product manufacturing	0
Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing	-500
Primary metal manufacturing	1,300
Fabricated metal product manufacturing	1,300
Machinery manufacturing	-7,300
Computer and electronic product manufacturing	-300
Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing	-300
Communications equipment manufacturing	300
Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing	-900
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing	500
Manufacturing and reproducing magnetic and optical media and audio and video equipment manufacturing	100
Electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing	1,100
Transportation equipment manufacturing^[1]	-100
Motor vehicles and parts^[2]	400
Furniture and related product manufacturing	-1,000
Miscellaneous manufacturing	-700
Nondurable goods	-1,000
Food manufacturing	3,900
Textile mills	-300
Textile product mills	1,000
Apparel manufacturing	-700
Paper manufacturing	-1,500
Printing and related support activities	-600
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing	-1,000
Chemical manufacturing	-500
Plastics and rubber products manufacturing	-1,700
Beverage, tobacco, and leather and allied product manufacturing	-300
Trade, transportation, and utilities	4,000
Wholesale trade	2,500
Merchant wholesalers, durable goods	-1,300
Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods	2,200
Wholesale trade agents and brokers	1,600
Retail trade	-6,500
Motor vehicle and parts dealers	200
Automobile dealers	2,100
Other motor vehicle dealers	-2,600
Automotive parts, accessories, and tire retailers	700
Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers	-2,600
Food and beverage retailers	500
Furniture, home furnishings, electronics, and appliance retailers	-1,400
Furniture and home furnishings retailers	-1,900
Electronics and appliance retailers	600
General merchandise retailers	1,300
Department stores	-1,200
Warehouse clubs, supercenters, and other general merchandise retailers	2,500
Health and personal care retailers	-3,600
Gasoline stations and fuel dealers	-500
Clothing, clothing accessories, shoe, and jewelry retailers	2,100
Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, book, and miscellaneous retailers	-2,500
Transportation and warehousing	5,800
Air transportation	3,700
Rail transportation	200
Water transportation	300
Truck transportation	-900
Transit and ground passenger transportation	1,800
Pipeline transportation	300
Scenic and sightseeing transportation	700
Support activities for transportation	-1,700
Couriers and messengers	6,500
Warehousing and storage	-5,100
Utilities	2,200
Information	2,000
Motion picture and sound recording industries	-200
Publishing industries	100
Broadcasting and content providers	900
Telecommunications	-3,900
Computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting, and related services	3,200
Web search portals, libraries, archives, and other information services	1,800
Financial activities	13,000
Finance and insurance	8,400
Monetary authorities-central bank	-100
Credit intermediation and related activities	1,200
Depository credit intermediation^[1]	2,100
Commercial banking	100
Nondepository credit intermediation	-1,000
Activities related to credit intermediation	200
Securities, commodity contracts, funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles, investments, and related activities	2,000
Insurance carriers and related activities	5,300
Real estate and rental and leasing	4,200
Real estate	1,300
Rental and leasing services	2,900
Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets (except copyrighted works)	0
Professional and business services	-18,000
Professional, scientific, and technical services	-1,900
Legal services	1,100
Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services	3,100
Architectural, engineering, and related services	-1,000
Specialized design services	-100
Computer systems design and related services	700
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services	1,600
Scientific research and development services	-3,900
Advertising, public relations, and related services	-2,100
Other professional, scientific, and technical services	-1,200
Management of companies and enterprises	4,700
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	-20,600
Administrative and support services	-21,900
Office administrative services	4,300
Facilities support services	-500
Employment services^[1]	-16,700
Temporary help services	-20,200
Business support services	-2,300
Travel arrangement and reservation services	-1,200
Investigation and security services	-1,500
Services to buildings and dwellings	-2,600
Other support services	-1,600
Waste management and remediation services	1,300
Private education and health services	87,000
Private educational services	8,700
Health care and social assistance	78,300
Health care^[3]	62,200
Ambulatory health care services	28,700
Offices of physicians	9,800
Offices of dentists	0
Offices of other health practitioners	5,300
Outpatient care centers	2,000
Medical and diagnostic laboratories	-200
Home health care services	12,300
Other ambulatory health care services	-400
Hospitals	29,900
Nursing and residential care facilities	3,600
Skilled nursing care facilities	6,300
Residential intellectual and developmental disability, mental health, and substance abuse facilities	-900
Continuing care retirement communities and assisted living facilities for the elderly	-1,600
Other residential care facilities	-100
Social assistance	16,100
Individual and family services	15,600
Community food and housing, and emergency and other relief services	1,400
Vocational rehabilitation services	-900
Child care services	0
Leisure and hospitality	48,000
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	16,600
Performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries	7,100
Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions	-200
Amusement, gambling, and recreation industries	9,700
Accommodation and food services	31,400
Accommodation	1,200
Food services and drinking places	30,200
Other services	9,000
Repair and maintenance	2,600
Personal and laundry services	3,200
Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations	3,000
Government	-1,000
Federal	-22,000
Federal, except U.S. Postal Service	-15,800
U.S. Postal Service	-6,700
State government	0
State government education	-2,900
State government, excluding education	2,900
Local government	21,000
Local government education	-300
Local government, excluding education	20,900
^[1] Includes other industries, not shown separately. ^[2] Includes motor vehicle manufacturing, motor vehicle body and trailer manufacturing, and motor vehicle parts manufacturing. ^[3] Includes ambulatory health care services, hospitals, and nursing and residential care facilities.

.tab-content-centered .tabs li {display:none;} .tab-content-centered .tabs li + li {display:block;} .tab-content-centered .panes div {display:none;} .tab-content-centered .panes div + div{display:block;}

Within private education and health services, the 62,000-job increase in health care employment was higher than the average monthly gain of 44,000 over the prior 12 months. Health care job gains occurred in hospitals (+30,000), ambulatory health care services (+29,000), and skilled nursing care facilities (+6,000). Social assistance employment was up 16,000 over the month.

Employment in leisure and hospitality continued to trend up in May (+48,000), largely in food services and drinking places (+30,000). Over the prior 12 months, leisure and hospitality added an average of 20,000 jobs per month.

Within government, federal government employment continued to decline in May (−22,000) and was down by 59,000 since January. (Employees on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance pay are counted as employed in the establishment survey.)

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — May 2025." Also see more charts of national employment, hours, and earnings data.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 139,000 in May 2025 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2025/total-nonfarm-payroll-employment-increased-by-139000-in-may-2025.htm (visited June 15, 2025).

OF INTEREST

Recent editions of Spotlight on Statistics

Fatal Injuries to Foreign-Born Hispanic or Latino Workers
Explores the industries, occupations, and events related to these fatalities.
For-Profit, Nonprofit, and Government Sector Jobs in 2022
Compares the labor force characteristics and experiences of workers in the for-profit, nonprofit, government, and self-employed sectors.
Union Membership, Activity, and Compensation in 2022
Focuses on trends in union membership, work stoppages, and pay and benefits among union members.
A Look at a Neat Industry: Distilleries
Examines trends in employment, establishments, wages, and consumer prices for distilleries.
Healthcare Occupations: Characteristics of the Employed
Compares the demographic characteristics of workers in healthcare occupations.