Unemployment rate: 5,1% (esp. 5,2%)
Average Hourly Earning: 0,2% (esp. 0,2%)
Average Weekly Hours: 33,8% (esp. 33,8)
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Jobs growth weak
May employment comes in far below Wall Street expectations with weak job gain.
June 3, 2005: 8:33 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. employers added far fewer jobs to payrolls in May, according to a government report Friday that showed the nation's labor market to be far weaker than Wall Street expectations.
The Labor Department report showed employers added 78,000 jobs in May, down sharply from the 274,000 jobs added to payrolls in April.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast 175,000 new jobs, while those polled by Reuters were looking for a 185,000 job gain, with a range of estimates from 145,000 to 240,000.
Even with the weaker than expected job gain, the unemployment rate fell to 5.1 percent. The economists had looked for the unemployment rate to stay at the 5.2 percent level seen in April.