How Many Jobs Were Created in May 2012?

May 2015 Jobs News Highlights

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The following numbers are for May 2012.  For current numbers, please click one of the above links.

69,000 new jobs were created in the month of May 2012 (in seasonally adjusted numbers).

The private sector generated 82,000 new jobs, but the government sector continued to shed jobs, 15,000 jobs, in May 2012.  


422,000 more people reported themselves as working in May 2012. 
(The above are all seasonally-adjusted numbers.)

      

The unemployment rate increased one-tenth of one percent to 8.2%, increasing from 8.1% in April.  The unemployment rate has been under 8.4% every month this year.  Last year, the unemployment rate exceeded or was equal to 9.0% for 7 months out of the year.  The increase in the unemployment rate this month was due to people entering or re-entering the labor force. 


In terms of numbers, the civilian labor force (the people either working or actively looking for work) is at a new high of 155,007,000 people.  We have never had this many people in the civilian labor force before.  The labor force participation rate (the percent of people in the civilian non-institutional population 16+ who are either working or looking for work) edged up .2% (ten-tenths of a percent) to 63.8% this month. 

How many more or fewer people are working this month?  How many more or fewer jobs are there this month?  Were jobs lost or gained?

How many more jobs are there in May 2012 than there were in April 2011?


Let's look:

• 69,000 MORE jobs in seasonally-adjusted numbers were reported by employers now than in April.
• 789,000 MORE jobs in "raw" actual numbers not adjusted for seasonal variations were reported by employers now vs. April.

How many more private sector jobs are there in May than there were in April 2012?

• 82,000 MORE private-sector jobs in seasonally-adjusted numbers were reported by employers now than in April.
• 800,000 MORE private-sector jobs in "raw" actual numbers not adjusted for seasonal variations were reported by employers now than in April.  (In other words, private employers are saying that they have actually employed 800,000 more people in May than in April.) 

How many more (or fewer) government jobs are there in May than in April 2012?

• 13,000 FEWER government jobs in seasonally-adjusted numbers were reported by government employers at all levels (federal, state, and local) now than in April.
• 11,000 MORE government jobs in "raw" actual numbers not adjusted for seasonal variations were reported by government employers at all levels now than in April.  

How many more people are reporting themselves as working in May than in April 2012?

• 422,000 MORE people reported themselves as working (in seasonally-adjusted numbers) than were working in April.
• 732,000 MORE people reported themselves as working (in unadjusted "raw" actual numbers) than were working in April.

(Note:  All of my employment number reports are based on monthly reports and data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Monthly numbers reports are based on the monthly Employment Situation Report.  The Employment Situation report includes month over month and year over year jobs numbers.  My analysis is taken from the monthly BLS data copied to an Excel spreadsheet every month.  I calculate detailed percentage increases/decreases, 3 month numbers, 2012 to date numbers, and I compare jobs numbers to those at the time of Obama's inauguration and at the "trough" of the recession.)