In a month which fell short of expectations, a total of 38,000 jobs were added to the US economy in May, according to data released last Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Information (-34,000) and Construction (-15,000) were among those sectors markedly down this month, with the Verizon worker strike as a primary driver for the shortfall in Information jobs.

The Healthcare & Social Assistance (+55,400) and Professional Services (excluding temporary help; +31,000) sectors exhibited the strongest growth; and year-on-year total employment rose 1.7%.

Temporary help services employment decreased by 21,000 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis in May, down 0.72%, while the temporary penetration rate fell two basis points to 2.00%. Year-on-year, temporary help employment was up 0.6%, with monthly gains in temporary help services averaging 1,425 jobs over the past 12 months. Downward revisions to data from March and April lowered previously reported gains by 15,400 jobs.

"The May employment numbers were disappointing, not only because of the tepid growth of 38,000 jobs for May, but because of the decelerating trend over the past several months," said Barry Asin, President of Staffing Industry Analysts. "Temporary help services, often a leading indicator, was particularly weak. Not only did we see 21,000 jobs in this category shed in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, but we have now seen declines in four of the last five months. While we caution not to read too much into a few months, the deceleration in employment growth and the particular weakness in temporary help highlight the mixed signals we are currently seeing in the US economy."

Although driven largely by people dropping out of the workforce versus expanding employment, unemployment did edge down to 4.69%, hitting a low for the cycle and providing a glimmer of optimism.