US economy adds 139,000 jobs in May, above forecasts

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US economy added 139,000 jobs in May, more than market expectations, according to data from the Labor Department on Friday.

The market expectation for nonfarm payrolls last month was set to show a gain of 126,000.

Job additions for April, on the other hand, were revised downwards by 30,000, from 177,000 to 147,000.

"Employment continued to trend up in health care, leisure and hospitality, and social assistance. The federal government continued to lose jobs," the department said.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, was stable at 4.2% in May, matching estimates.

The number of unemployed people was almost unchanged at 7.2 million in May, while the labor force participation rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 62.4%.

Meanwhile, the employment-to-population ratio declined by 0.3 percentage points to 59.7% in May, according to the Labor Department.

The number of people not in the labor force but currently wanting a job in May was little changed at 6 million.

"These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job," it said.

The average hourly earnings for all employees on non-farm payrolls rose by 0.4% to $36.24 in May compared to April while it increased by 3.9% on an annual basis.