Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2019-06-07

Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Nonfarm payroll employment edged up in May (+75,000), and the unemployment rate remained at 3.6 percent. Employment continued to trend up in professional and business services and in health care. Incorporating revisions for March and April, which decreased employment by 75,000, monthly job gains have averaged 151,000 over the past 3 months. Employment in professional and business services continued to trend up in May (+33,000). Over the past 12 months, the industry has added 498,000 jobs. In May, health care employment also continued to trend up (+16,000). Health care has added 391,000 jobs over the past 12 months. Employment in construction was little changed in May (+4,000), following an increase of 30,000 in April. The industry has added 215,000 jobs over the last 12 months.