The federal government sheds 14,000 jobs and manufacturing loses 8,000. Temporary help adds 26,000 jobs and health care adds 11,000. The labor force grows by 420,000.
The economy added 175,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rate ticked up from 7.5 to 7.6 percent as April's number was revised down, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics.
The participation rate ticked up one tenth of one percentage point, rising to 63.4 percent as the federal government shed 14,000 jobs and 8,000 were lost in manufacturing, department statistics showed. The participation number remains historically low.
The job gains were in professional and business services -- temporary help added 26,000 jobs -- food services and drinking places, and retail trade, figures show. Health care added 11,000 jobs.
The average workweek and salary were basically unchanged.
The labor force increased by 420,000 in May. The number of long-term unemployed remained 4.4 million. The number of people marginally connected to the workforce -- people who are ready and able to work and have looked for a job in the last 12 months but not in the last four weeks -- decreased from 2.4 million to 2.2 million.
The government reported on May 3 that 165,000 jobs were added in April, dropping the unemployment rate to a four-year low of 7.5 percent. Unemployment rates in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley have been dropping as well.
The April federal number was downgraded today to 149,000 jobs, while March's was increased 4,000 to 142,000.