Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2016-06-03

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. The unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 4.7 percent in May, and nonfarm payroll employment changed little (+38,000). Job gains occurred in health care, while mining employment continued to decline. Information employment declined due to a strike. Incorporating revisions for March and April, which reduced nonfarm payroll employment by 59,000, monthly job gains have averaged 116,000 over the past 3 months. In the 12 months prior to May, employment growth averaged 219,000 per month. Health care employment increased by 46,000 in May. Ambulatory health care services (+24,000), hospitals (+17,000), and nursing care facilities (+5,000) added jobs over the month. Employment in health care has increased by 487,000 over the year.