The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its May
employment / unemployment report on June 5^th, 2026.

Employment / Unemployment 

• Seasonally Adjusted U-3 is 4.3% Unchanged
• Unadjusted U-3 is 4.1% up from 4.0%
• Unadjusted U-6 is 7.7% Unchanged
• Labor Force Participation is 61.8% Unchanged
• Unadjusted Employment rose from 158.726 million to 159.467 million
• Next Update: July 2^nd, 2026

Summary:
The jobs report came in much higher than expected, with an uncharacteristic adjustment upward for the previous month’s numbers (April). The biggest gainer was Leisure and hospitality, gaining 70,000 jobs. Job losses occurred in insurance carriers and related activities (-11,000) and commercial banking (-3,000).

According to the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

“Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 172,000 in May, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, local government, and health care. Employment in financial activities declined…

The number of people jobless less than 5 weeks declined by 286,000 to 2.2 million in May, largely offsetting an increase in the prior month. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed over the month at 2.0 million but is up by 524,000 over the year. The long-term unemployed accounted for 27.5 percent of all unemployed people in May.”

So, despite declines in Government employment, overall employment still increased.

As usual, they are talking about “Seasonally Adjusted Jobs”.

Looking at the Unadjusted Establishment Survey report we see…
Originally, the BLS reported employment of 158.695 million for April, which they have since adjusted upward to 158.726 million, an increase of 31,000. Current May numbers are 159.467 million for an increase of 741,000 jobs based on their current numbers or +772,000 based on the original numbers.

Note: According to Politifact, “The federal workforce grew by about 4.8% during Biden’s term, increasing from 2.89 million in January 2021 to 3.02 million in January 2025.” 

So, Trump has reduced the federal payroll by more than twice what it gained under Biden. Although this does reduce budget pressure, it also puts pressure on the job market for those who are seeking other employment. It is estimated that between 30-40% of these workers retired, while perhaps 10-15% were working spouses who chose to stay home rather than seek other employment.

Current Unemployment Rate Chart

Current Employment Chart

See Current Employment  for more information.

BLS: May 2026 Employment by Sector

The BLS employment “bubble chart” based on the Establishment Survey Data gives us a good picture of the Seasonally Adjusted employment numbers.

The Bubble’s Size tells us the total Employment for that industry (i.e., larger bubbles mean more people are employed in that sector).

The bubble’s location on the chart tells us that there has been a change in Employment Levels over the most recent month… A bubble further to the right indicates larger job growth. A bubble’s vertical location on the chart shows the average industry salary.

Remember, these are Seasonally Adjusted Numbers, so they aren’t cumulative!

Looking at the above chart, we can see that 4 sectors didn’t show employment growth in May, Retail lost -1,100 jobs, Information lost -2,000 jobs, Wholesale lost -3,700 jobs, and Financial lost -22,000 jobs.

Of the 22,000 jobs in the financial sector, the biggest losers were insurance carriers (-10,700) and commercial banking (-2,600). This wasn’t a one-month stumble either; financial activities employment has now fallen 107,000 jobs from its peak back in May 2025. Insurance carriers have been under mounting pressure from catastrophic loss payouts in recent years, forcing carriers to retreat from certain markets and trim headcount, while commercial banking continues its slow bleed from branch consolidation and back-office automation. The rest of the 22,000 losses were spread across other financial subsectors including securities, real estate, and credit intermediation.

BLS Average Weekly Wages

BLS Employment Levels by Industry

May 2026, Seasonally Adjusted Employment

Note: The monthly increase is Seasonally Adjusted, so even though Mining was 606,000 in April and 613,000 in May, which looks like a 7,000 increase, the BLS reports it as a 4,000 increase. And Information went from 2,773,000 to 2,783,000 and the BLS calls it a -2,000 decrease.

Source: BLS

ADP^® National Employment Report

ADP provides an independent (non-government) estimate of private-sector employment and pay, based on data derived from ADP client payrolls. According to ADP®, In collaboration with Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

Note: The numbers are released a few days before the BLS numbers and are often quite different. This month however, they are quite close, BLS says +115,000 jobs, ADP says +109,000 jobs.

ADP: Private employers added 122,000 jobs in May

• Eight out of 10 supersectors showed gains last month, and employers of all sizes were hiring.

Source: ADP®

ADP Private Employment by Establishment Size

ADP Job Gainers / Losers

Most sectors showed gains, with only two losers.

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate Chart 1948-Present

Less Than Full Employment

This chart compares employment levels with the (inverted) unemployment rate.

Full Employment is when everyone who wants a job has one. It is generally considered to be around 3%. After the unemployment rate almost touched the magic full employment line in April 2023, it began moving away (i.e., higher unemployment).

Note: The Unemployment rate is inverted to track the employment rate. Neither is Seasonally Adjusted. For more information see Employment vs. Unemployment.

Note: Full employment is not considered to be at zero percent because even when employers are having difficulty finding employees, some people are still unemployed due to either:

1. Structural unemployment (mismatch between worker skills and job requirements, i.e., not enough training) or
2. Frictional unemployment. There will always be people who have quit or have lost a seasonal job and are in the process of getting a new job. Or simply because they quit their job, knowing it would be easy to find another (hopefully better) job.

Seasonally Adjusted U1 through U6 Unemployment Rates

Labor Force Participation Rate

The LFPR fell slightly from 61.9% in March to 61.8% in April. There has been a downward trend since the November 2023 peak. This may be partially explained by an aging population retiring.

Note: A rising LFPR means that a greater portion of the Non-Institutional population is in the Labor Force.

The Labor Force Participation Rate is the percentage of the Non-Institutional Population that makes up the Labor Force.

And the Employment – Population Ratio is the percentage of the Total Population that is Employed.  We created a chart to help explain the difference. The Employment–Population Ratio is the percentage of the largest circle to the smallest circle in this diagram. In contrast, the LFPR is the relationship of the 2nd largest circle to the 3rd largest circle (entire green circle).

Employment-Population Ratio

By Gender and Age

This chart shows the Employment-Population Ratio by Gender. Men make up a much larger portion of the workforce, i.e., 66.7% of men are employed, and only 56.0% of women are employed. But…

As you can see, 20 years ago, back in 2006, over 72% of men were working and 58.1% of women were working. In 2008, the Great Recession caused a massive decline in employment for both men and women. By December of 2009, only 66.4% of men were working and 55.4% of women. Over the next decade and a half, women workers rebounded to 56.4%, but men only rebounded to 67.4%.

Employment-Population Ratio by Race

This chart shows the Employment-Population Ratio by Race (including both Men and Women). As we can see, Hispanics and Asians have the highest percentage of their population employed.

Percent Unemployed 27 weeks or Longer

Over a quarter (27.5%) of those unemployed have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer.

Unemployment by Education

Read more on UnemploymentData.com.