What is U.S. Unemployment Rate for May 2017?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) the U.S. national unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) for May 2017 is 4.3%. This is a decrease of 0.1% from April 2017 (4.4%).

What is the average U.S. Hourly Wage as of May 2017?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) the U.S. average hourly wage (all private, nonfarm, seasonally adjusted) as of May 2017 is $26.22.  This is an increase of $0.03 from April 2017.

Source2's Employment Outlook

The U.S. economy created 138,000 jobs in May, and the U.S. unemployment rate fell for the 4th consecutive month to 4.3%. Wages grew three cents an hour to $26.22. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 63 cents, maintaining the annualized pace of 2.5%.

Job growth in May was noticeable in the health care sector, which rose by 24,000 for the month. Hospitals added 7,000 jobs in May, and employment in ambulatory health care services continued to trend up (+13,000). Other sectors that continue to trend up are professional and business services (+38,000) and food services/drinking places (+30,000).

We expect that jobs in industries like education and utilities will see 6% growth over a ten-year period (2014–2024). Whereas, jobs in the health care industry over the same period will grow at 19%, or 3x the average.

The labor force participation rate declined by 0.2% to 62.7% in May, but has shown no clear trend over the past 12 months to indicate long-term effects on labor markets. We believe we will continue to see even more tightening of the labor supply for all sectors across the entire U.S. and an increase in new job creation.

About the Report
Source2’s Monthly U.S. Unemployment Rate & U.S. Average Hourly Wage report makes it easy to quickly see the latest numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Employment Statistics (CES) surveys.

References
U.S. Unemployment Rate (Seasonally Adjusted) http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000
 
U.S. Average Hourly Earnings - All Private, Nonfarm (Seasonally Adjusted) http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t19.htm

David Nuxol is the President and CEO of Source2. David has nearly 30 years' experience as an executive in the outsourcing and recruitment industry. Schedule a free consultation with him today.