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NCCI Releases Labor Market Insights – May 2026

12 May, 2026 NCCI

                               

NCCI released the latest Labor Market Insights for May 2026.

  1. The economy on net added a solid 115,000 jobs in April with 123,000 jobs added in the private sector. With a second consecutive monthly increase in employment, the 11-month streak of alternating employment gains and losses has been broken.

Industry breadth continued to improve in April. While health care still led, employment also grew in construction, transportation and warehousing, retail and wholesale trade, leisure and hospitality, and other services. Other industry groups saw little change or small declines.

  1. Wage growth remained solid with a small acceleration in both average hourly earnings and average hours worked. Wage growth has continued to support payroll growth and premium for workers compensation.
  1. The unemployment rate was steady in April and has remained in a range of 4.0 %to 4.5% over the past several years. While up from the 2023 lows, the unemployment rate remains historically low, and the trend of the past several years indicates that the labor market is still in balance.

Big Picture: The monthly average of employment growth has accelerated in early 2026 to 76,000 jobs per month, up from just 10,000 jobs per month in 2025. While it is still early, the labor market appeared to be strengthening to start the year.

Due to the timing of data collection, it is unlikely that the latest employment report reflects the economic impact of the recent rise in oil and gas prices. Higher production and transportation costs for businesses may cause employment growth to slow again.

Check out NCCI’s Labor Market Insights – May 2026 for the full report.

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