The U.S. Labor Department released another strong employment report today. It showed that non-farm payrolls expanded by 223,000, far exceeding expectations of most economists. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.8%, the lowest since April of 2000. For African Americans, the unemployment rate was the lowest on record, at 5.9%.
After many years of losses, manufacturing jobs have made a comeback under President Trump. This trend continued in May with 18,000 new manufacturing jobs reported. There were also solid gains in healthcare with over 31,000 new jobs and in the construction sector, which added 25,000 new jobs in May. Because of the expanding opportunities for full time employment, the number of people forced to work part-time decreased by 37,000 in May.