Equitable Growth’s Jobs Day Graphs: May 2018 Report Edition

Earlier this morning, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on the U.S. labor market during the month of May. Below are five graphs compiled by Equitable Growth staff highlighting important trends in the data.

While the unemployment rate declined in May, the share of prime-age workers with a job was unchanged at 79.2 percent.

Average wage growth ticked up to 2.7 percent, but this measure of wage growth has yet to accelerate like the Employment Cost Index.

While still high compared to previous cycles, the share of newly employed workers coming from outside the labor force has declined in recent months.

As the labor market continues to strengthen, the share of unemployment that is longer- term (more than 15 weeks) continues to decline.

The share of workers who are unemployed because they left a job has risen sharply over the past three months.