US Job Hiring Bounces Back From April Lows

U.S. hires increased by 2.4 million in the month of May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.

Total separations topped 5.8 million during the same period.

What Happened: April brought historical lows for hiring, so May’s 2.4 million hires were a welcome relief.

Accommodation and food services saw the largest increase in hires, at over 760,000 jobs, while construction and health care also saw increases of more than 400,000 hires.

In May, the number and rate of total separations decreased to 4.1 million.

The report classifies separations to include all workers who quit, are laid off, involuntarily discharged and other separations such as retirement.

Why It’s Important: National unemployment was still 11.1% for the month of June, so although May saw over 2 million hires, unemployment is still extremely high.

The numbers reflect the actions being taken as some states slowly began to open.

The number of new layoffs is a figure to continue tracking. The number and rate of layoffs and discharges decreased in May by 5,912,000 from April's number, but still included 1.8 million layoffs and discharges.

This number is slightly higher than February's pre-pandemic numbers.

What’s Next: Economists will be watching the pace of layoffs and hiring increases going forward.

With states like Texas now experiencing another wave of infected individuals, expect the recovery to be slow and bumpy. 

June estimates are scheduled to be released at 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 10.