By Tom Burnett CFA
On June 4, 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its Employment Report for May 2021. The Report indicates that the economy is recovering strongly and providing evident job creation opportunities. In the three months ending in May, the economy added a total of 1.65 million new jobs. The figures for April and May were revised upwards by a combined 27.000. Average hourly earnings rose by $0.15 to $30.33, the highest level during the recovery. The unemployment rate was 5.8% in May, down from 6.1% in the prior month. The pre-Covid rate in February 2020 was 3.5%. The latest number of unemployed workers looking for work is 9.3 million, down by 496,000 from the prior month.
Total employment now stands just shy of 150 million, compared to a high of 157 million, before the Covid outbreak crushed the economy and the job opportunities. At the low point in 2020, total employment was 133 million. The economy has now led to a recovery of more than 60% of the jobs lost due to the Covid outbreak and the countermeasures imposed to halt its spread.
The next BLS Employment Report will be issued on July 2, 2021.