Key takeaways from the blowout May jobs report

May’s jobs report showed that, once again, service-providing sectors fueled employment gains, particularly the job-generating trio of health care, leisure and hospitality, and government (accounting for 60% of the gains).

However, the job growth seen in May was actually the most broad-based since January 2023, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows.

The BLS’ “diffusion index,” which is a measurement of the percentage of industries that are adding or losing jobs, hit 63.4 in May. That means that 63.4% of 250 key private-sector industries tracked by the BLS added jobs last month.

That’s well above the 56.6% seen in April, and it marks the highest level for the index since the start of last year.

“But just because [the health care, leisure and government] sectors are powering ahead doesn’t mean other sectors are weak,” Nick Bunker, economic research director for North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab, wrote in a note issued Friday. “Interest rate-sensitive sectors, including construction and manufacturing, are still adding jobs. The gains are still broad-based.”

Construction added an estimated 21,000 jobs while manufacturing added 8,000 positions, the highest monthly gain seen so far this year, BLS data shows.