The U.S. economy added 138,000 jobs in May, according to the monthly jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday morning.
The national unemployment rate dipped to a 16 year low, from 4.4 percent to 4.3 percent. The 4.4 percent last month was already the lowest it had been since 2007, before the recession.
“Since January, the unemployment rate has declined by 0.5 percentage point, and the number of unemployed has decreased by 774,000,” said the BLS.
“Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs declined by 211,000 to 3.3 million in May,” according to the BLS report.
Despite the employment gains, the jobs report did not meet some economists’ expectations. They were expecting the report to show job gains of 185,000.
Overall, the numbers suggest that job growth is steady but slight, with an average gain of roughly 121,000 jobs over the past three months, and 181,000 added in the past 12 months, reports the AP.
