The unemployment rate dipped from 9.9% last month, but in a report that fell well short of expectation.
Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 431,000 in May, reflecting the hiring of 411,000 temporary employees to work on Census 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on June 4.
Private-sector employment changed little (+41,000). Manufacturing, temporary help serices, and mining added jobs, while construction employment declined.
Expectations had been high ahead of the publication of the report, which is a key indicator of the health of the economy.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
