The jobs report blew past expectations Friday, with employers adding 272,000 jobs in May, although the unemployment rate ticked up to 4%, one-tenth of a point higher than April.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported employment continued to rise in several sectors, led by health care; government; leisure and hospitality; and professional, scientific and technical services. The professional and business services sector added 33,000 jobs, including 7,600 in accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services.
Despite the modest job gains in accounting, the talent shortage is continuing at firms and companies across the U.S.
"We're seeing a lot fewer people go into the profession," said Travis Willard, senior vice president of product and innovation at the Institute of Management Accountants, whose annual conference begins this weekend in San Antonio, Texas. "We've got to be creative about how we attract talented people into our area, thinking about how we might bridge the gap between someone who's already working in another field, and they might be interested in seeing this as career growth. At least from my perspective, we're seeing a lot of people leave the industry. We're seeing fewer students enroll in programs like accounting and finance, so it just feels like there's going to be an impending war for talent when it comes to the need for these types of positions."
In the May jobs report, the BLS reported that average hourly earnings increased by 14 cents, or 0.4%, to $34.91. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings increased 4.1%.
"The great American comeback continues, but we still have to make more progress," said President Biden in a statement. "On my watch, 15.6 million more Americans have the dignity and respect that comes with a job. Unemployment has been at or below 4% for 30 months — the longest stretch in 50 years. And a record high share of working-age women have jobs."
Republicans countered that the economy is still problematic. "Under President Biden's failed leadership, a paycheck doesn't stretch as far as it once did, the economy is struggling, and small businesses are falling behind," said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Missouri, in a statement. "The latest JOLTS survey earlier this week showed job openings fell in April to their lowest level in over three years. An estimate reported by Bloomberg shows that monthly nonfarm payroll prints may have overstated job growth by 730,000 last year. And now the President wants to make matters worse by letting the 2017 Trump tax cuts expire and increase taxes as much as $7 trillion on America's working families and businesses when the record of the Trump tax cuts is so clearly one of success."
He has appointed Tax Teams, made up only of Republicans, on the House and Ways Means Committee who are working on a tax plan for next year in expectation of the expiration in 2025 of many of the individual tax breaks under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
The BLS also revised downward the job numbers for March and April, lowering the number for March by 5,000 jobs, from a gain of 315,000 to 310,000 jobs, and the change for April went down by 10,000, from a gain of 175,000 to 165,000 jobs. With these revisions, employment in March and April combined is 15,000 lower than previously reported.
