Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

172,000 Jobs Added in May as Unemployment Holds Steady

State of the Union: Last month’s job additions exceeded expectations and strengthened predictions of rate hikes by the end of the year.
2025-11-20T133922Z_2_LYNXMPELAJ0PC_RTROPTP_4_USA-ECONOMY-UNEMPLOYMENT-Medium.jpg
Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player...

The U.S. added 172,000 non-farm jobs in the month of May according to a Friday report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with an additional cumulative upward revision of March and April’s job numbers by 93,000. Unemployment did not move from April’s 4.3 percent, prompting markets to solidify their belief that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by the end of the year. 


The majority of employment gains were found in leisure and hospitality, local government, and health care, with employment in financial services seeing a decline.

Full-time employment, seasonally adjusted, is down 600,000 jobs year-over-year (YOY) and 79,000 month-over-month (MOM). Part-time employment remains up 132,000 jobs YOY and 266,000 MOM.

The stable unemployment rate provides room for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to combat climbing inflation at its upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting June 16–17. 

×

Donate to The American Conservative Today

This is not a paywall!

Your support helps us continue our mission of providing thoughtful, independent journalism. With your contribution, we can maintain our commitment to principled reporting on the issues that matter most.

Donate Today:

Donate to The American Conservative Today