Unemployment Still Near Historic Low; Robust Wage Growth Continues in May
May’s Employment Situation Report highlighted the historically low unemployment rate, which remained at 3.6 percent in May—matching the lowest rate in almost 50 years (since 1969). This marks the 15th consecutive month where the rate has been at or below 4 percent. In addition the unemployment rate for Hispanics remained at 4.2 percent—matching the lowest rate since the series began in 1973. Among African Americans, the unemployment rate fell by 0.5 percentage points to 6.2 percent, nearing the historic low of 5.9 percent. The unemployment rate for those with some college or an associate degree declined by 0.3 percentage points to 2.8 percent—the lowest rate since March 2001. The unemployment rate for high school graduates who did not attend college remained at 3.5 percent, matching the lowest since July 2000. The U-6 unemployment rate, the broadest measure produced by Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of unemployment and underemployment, reached 7.1 percent—the lowest rate since December 2000 as shown in the figure below.
