Economic Buzz: US unemployment rate at 4.2% in May

Employment in the U.S. increased by slightly more than expected in the month of May, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 139,000 jobs in May after jumping by a downwardly revised 147,000 jobs in April.

The modestly stronger than expected job partly reflected increases in employment in the healthcare and social assistance and leisure and hospitality sectors, which added 78,300 jobs and 48,000 jobs, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the federal government continued to lose jobs, with federal government employment falling by 22,000 jobs in May.

The report also said the unemployment rate came in at 4.2 percent in May, unchanged from the previous month and in line with economist estimates.

The unemployment rate remained flat as a 696,000-person plunge by the household survey measure of employment was offset by a 625,000-person slump in the size of the labor force.

The Labor Department also said average hourly employee earnings increased by 15 cents or 0.4 percent to $36.24 in May.

Average hourly employee earnings in May were up by 3.9 percent compared to the same month a year ago, unchanged from April.

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