US Added 559K Jobs in May, Missing Estimates Again

The sluggish economy could prompt the U.S. Federal Reserve to more slowly toward tapering its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases.

AccessTimeIconJun 4, 2021 at 12:39 p.m. UTC
Updated Aug 21, 2021 at 7:28 p.m. UTC

Presented By Icon

Election 2024 coverage presented by

Stand with crypto

Jobs in the U.S. rose by 559,000 in May, below the consensus estimate for a gain of 671,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 5.8% from 6.1% in April.

The sluggish economy reported could mean the U.S. Federal Reserve moves more slowly toward tapering its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases, which would be a positive development for cryptocurrency holders. For now, bitcoiners may still be able to count on the Fed bringing more liquidity to the markets through quantitative easing and giving investors the liquidity to invest more in riskier assets.

  • Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
    13:18
    Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
  • Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
    05:10
    Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
  • The first video of the year 2024
    04:07
    The first video of the year 2024
  • The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
    40:07
    The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
  • The price of bitcoin spiked on the report, regaining some of the ground it had loss overnight.

    The U.S. revised April's jobs number up to 278,000, after a long month of economists debating about how the economy only added 266,000 jobs our of an estimated 1 million in April.

    The labor force participation rate – the percentage of the American population that is either working or actively looking for work – ticked down slightly to 61.6% from 61.7% in April.

    The employment-to-population ratio, which measures the number of people employed against the total working-age population, changed little month-to-month at 58% from 57.9% in April, down 3.1 percentage points year-over-year.

    Disclosure

    Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information have been updated.

    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of the Bullish group, which owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish group equity-based compensation. Bullish was incubated by technology investor Block.one.


    Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.