May 2010 Employment Situation — 2010-06-04

Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 431,000 in May, reflecting the hiring of 411,000 temporary employees to work on Census 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Private-sector em- ployment changed little (+41,000). Manufacturing, temporary help ser- vices, and mining added jobs, while construction employment declined. The unemployment rate edged down to 9.7 percent. The number of unemployed persons was 15.0 million in May. The unem- ployment rate edged down to 9.7 percent, the same rate as in the first 3 months of 2010. (See table A-1.) Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for blacks (15.5 percent) declined in May, while the rates for adult men (9.8 percent), adult women (8.1 percent), teenagers (26.4 percent), whites (8.8 per- cent), and Hispanics (12.4 percent) showed little change. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted.