US employers maintained a solid pace of hiring in May, confirming the country’s economy has snapped back from unusually harsh winter winter weather earlier in the year.<br /><br />Payrolls increased by 217,000, though the March and April numbers were revised down to show 6,000 fewer jobs created than previously reported.<br /><br />The Labor Department said five years on employment has returned to the same level as before the recession – recovering the 8.7 million jobs lost during that slump. <br /><br />But to put it in context, the US population has grown nearly seven percent since then.<br /><br />That important milestone in the economy’s recovery came as May was the fourth straight month with job gains above 200,000. <br /><br />The unemployment rate held steady at six point three percent of the workforce – the lowest in five and a half years – even as some Americans who had given up the search for work resumed the hunt.<br /><br />The pace of hiring adds to upbeat data in areas ranging from car sales to activity in the services and factory sectors.<br /><br />They suggest that US growth in this quarter will top a three percent annual pace.
