United States: Employment rises in May
Latest reading: The U.S. labour market remained resilient in May 2026, with employers adding 172,000 jobs, far exceeding expectations of 85,000. This followed a revised increase of 179,000 jobs in April.
The strongest hiring was seen in leisure and hospitality, driven largely by food services and drinking places, while local government, health care, and manufacturing also recorded gains. By contrast, employment in financial activities fell, mainly due to job losses among insurance carriers and related businesses, as well as commercial banking. Finally, the unemployment rate remained at 4.3% in May for the third month in a row.
Panelist insight: Digging into the data, TD Economics’ Thomas Feltmate said:
“Overall, this was a solid employment report. Not only did headline payrolls come in stronger than expected, but revisions to prior months were meaningfully higher and well above six-and-twelve-month averages, suggesting some reacceleration in hiring activity. Importantly, job growth is no longer exclusively being driven by acyclical sectors like health care and social assistance, with more cyclically sensitive sectors like manufacturing, construction and leisure & hospitality also contributing.”