The U.S. economy gained 390,000 jobs in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.6 percent. In addition, the total job gains in April were revised upward to 436,000, while the March total was revised down to 398,000 jobs.
By employment category, the biggest gains were seen in leisure and hospitality, which added 84,000 jobs in May. Employment in the sector continues to be lower than its pre-pandemic level, however. Leisure and hospitality employment is down 7.9 percent compared with February 2020.
Other gains were seen in professional and business services (75,000 jobs), transportation and warehousing (47,000 jobs), construction (36,000 jobs), state government education (36,000 jobs), private education (33,000 jobs) and healthcare (28,000 jobs).
The biggest decline was seen