May non-farm payrolls increased by 217,000, roughly in line with expectations

May non-farm payrolls increased by 217,000, roughly in line with expectations. The unemployment rate held steady at 6.3%. With last month's gain, the US has officially regained all of the 8.7 million jobs lost during the recession. However, that number doesn't take into account the increase in working age population, nor the large amount of Americans who have dropped out of the work force. On the bright side, May represents the fourth month in a row with monthly job gains over 200,000. The four-month average for job gains is 222,000, the most in over a year. The annual trend is holding steady, with new jobs being created at about 2% per year. Basically, the last few months have been very good for the labor market, but the overall trend remains the same - slow but steady growth. (VIEW LINK)