Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2011-06-03

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. In May, nonfarm payroll employment changed little (+54,000), following increases that averaged 220,000 in the prior 3 months. The unemployment rate was essentially unchanged, at 9.1 percent, in May. Employment in the private sector was up by 83,000, compared with an average monthly gain of 244,000 in the prior 3 months. Since a recent employment low in February 2010, the private sector has added 2.1 million jobs. After accounting for job losses in the public sector, total nonfarm payrolls grew by 1.8 million over the period. Employment in professional and business services continued to increase in May (+44,000). Job gains occurred in accounting services and in computer systems design. Temporary help employment remained essentially unchanged.