Economy adds 390K jobs in May, unemployment holds at 3.6 percent

The U.S added 390,000 jobs and the unemployment rate held even at 3.6 percent in May, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.

The May jobs report was largely in line with economists’ expectations as employment growth slowed slightly from the torrid gains seen earlier in the year. Consensus projections from experts saw the U.S. gaining 350,000 jobs last month and pushing the jobless rate down to 3.5 percent, its level in February 2020.

Economists expected job growth to slow in May after the U.S. added more than 2 million jobs this year despite high inflation, staggering gas prices, rising interest rates and fading fiscal stimulus. While some experts have become increasingly concerned about the risks of a recession next year, employment and consumer spending have continued to grow through 2022.

Policymakers were also hopeful that May would bring a better balance between a record number of job openings and a labor force still smaller than it was before the onset of the pandemic. With roughly two open jobs for every unemployed American, businesses have scrambled to hire enough workers to meet resilient demand for their goods and services—raising prices and wages along the way.

Both the labor force participation rate and the employment to population ratio ticked 0.1 percentage points higher in May, remaining below pre-pandemic levels.

This developing report will be updated.

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