Jobs Report: 138,000 Added To Employment Rolls In May

The American economy added a modest 138,000 jobs in May, leaving the unemployment rate steady at 4.3 percent, disappointing many observers. Even worse than the headline number, however, are the previous months' revisions: March and April added 66,000 fewer jobs than we previously thought.

At the same time, wages showed no growth in the last month, suggesting that previous hopes of an uptick in incomes might be illusory. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"The May jobs report was a disappointment as job growth failed to meet expectations and revisions reduced gains from prior months," said Chief Economist Curt Long of the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions. "The participation rate fell, and wage growth showed no improvement."

Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com, agreed that the numbers were not what he had hoped for.

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"One might be tempted to say, ‘yes, but’ upon seeing the unemployment rate slip to 4.3 percent -- that came with contraction of the labor force," Hamrick said. "Once again, the highly-predicted ramp-up in wage gains failed to materialize. Average hourly earnings are up an-all-too familiar 2.5 percent over the past year. The wage component of the report continues to serve as a damper, in the sense that it remains subpar for an economy widely regarded as being close to full employment."

Hamrick also noted that this report, along with other disappointing data in recent months, cuts against the White House's message that the new administration has heralded a boom of economic activity.

"When President Trump spoke yesterday, he vastly overstated jobs creation since he took office and the assessment has only worsened with the arrival of a new day and the latest employment report," he said.

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