| The U.S. economy created 175,000 jobs in May, a solid month of hiring that was spread across a number of industries directly tied to the consumer. |
| Retail hiring jumped by nearly 28,000 after a gain of 20,000 jobs in April. General merchandise stores, which include Target and Wal-Mart, added nearly 10,000 of those jobs, while clothing stores provided roughly 6,000. |
| Restaurants also staffed up, creating 38,000 jobs last month. And a category that includes casinos and amusement parks added 12,500 positions. |
| Many of these are likely low-paying jobs, some without benefits. Still, the growth in those fields suggests businesses expect consumers will keep spending this year, despite paying higher Social Security taxes. |
| The greatest job growth in May came from business and professional services: 57,000 jobs. While nearly half of those were temporary positions, many were in higher-paying fields like architecture, accounting and management consulting. |
| The weakest area of the economy continued to be manufacturing and government. Both industries cut jobs for the third straight month. |
| Here's a look at the jobs added or lost in each major industry category: |
| Industry May April Past 12 months |
| Construction 7,000 -2,000 189,000 |
| Manufacturing -8,000 -9,000 41,000 |
| Retail 27,700 19,900 258,200 |
| Transportation, warehousing -3,900 5,900 61,500 |
| Information (Telecom, publishing) 3,000 -7,000 16,000 |
| Financial services 4,000 9,000 90,000 |
| Professional services (Accounting, temp work) 57,000 64,000 589,000 |
| Education and health 26,000 37,000 363,000 |
| Hotels, restaurants, entertainment 43,000 39,000 406,000 |
| Government -3,000 -8,000 -58,000 |
| Source: Labor Department |
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