Continued employment growth nationally this spring saw the addition of 390,000 new jobs last month, according to the latest numbers compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That agency is also reporting a jobs milestone: the lowest unemployment rate, at 3.5%, since December of 1969.
According to a press released issued by the BLS, the May job increases were seen in a wide range of industries, but particularly in “leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, and in transportation and warehousing.”
While the larger industries saw job gains well above the 50,000 mark, the construction industry was up by 36,000—still higher than the health care, manufacturing, and wholesale trade sectors.
Of the 36,000 new construction jobs, around 19,400 were recorded in nonresidential work, followed by the heavy and civil engineering sector at 11,300; and nonresidential building, up by 2,400 new jobs.
Although nearly all the numbers are on the upside, economists have noted that the pace of the increases in May had slowed compared with increases posted earlier this year.
“It appears that the nation is entering a period of slower job growth,” said Anirban Basu, chief economist with the Associated Builders and Contractors.
The new figures, continued Basu in a statement, “reveals job growth has finally fallen below the threshold of 400,000 new jobs a month.”
Basu added that it was unclear whether the slower pace was due to a lack of workers, or employers becoming increasingly resistant to paying higher wages.
Overall, national construction employment as of May stood at 7.6 million, up from 7.3 million a year ago.
In a statement released from the White House, President Biden declared that the current job market is “the strongest it’s been since just after World War II.”
Biden added that “working-age people have come back into the workforce at a faster rate in this recovery than at any point in the last 40 years.”
By Garry Boulard
