US Jobs Report: 272K New Positions Added in May
The Facts
The US Labor Department reported on Friday that employers added 272K jobs last month, much higher than an estimated 185K growth, with year-on-year pay increase tracking above inflation at 4.1%.
This comes as nonfarm payroll enrollment had gains notably in health care, the public sector, and leisure and hospitality, each one adding 68K, 43K and 42K new positions, respectively.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Robust job growth is a strong sign of economic health and recovery. Additionally, wage increases that outpace inflation are beneficial to workers. While critics are pointing to the results of this report as evidence of economic instability, the reality of these numbers is that the Biden administration's policies have led to this strong job market and economic resilience.
Republican narrative
The latest jobs report is nothing but a quantitative analysis that amounts to a piece of disinformation ahead of the November election, as all the job growth in May has been in part-time jobs — and all job creation over the past years has gone to illegal immigrants. Forget about the headline payrolls number; the growing unemployment rate is the real deal here.