The Employment Situation: May 1998 — 1998-06-05

Nonfarm payroll employment rose in May, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 296,000 with all the growth occurring in the service-producing sector. The number of manufacturing jobs fell, and construction employment edged down. The number of unemployed persons, 5.9 million in May, was little changed over the month, and the unemployment rate held at 4.3 percent. Both measures had fallen sharply in the previous month. Among the major demographic groups, the rates for adult men (3.5 percent), adult women (3.9 percent), teenagers (14.2 percent), whites (3.7 percent), blacks (9.0 percent), and Hispanics (6.8 percent) were essentially unchanged in May.