Gallup U.S. Job Creation Index Ties With All-Time High in May

The Gallup U.S. Job Creation Index in May returned to the all-time high of +37 found in March, with the Midwest and the South leading the way in employment. Since the election of President Donald Trump, the index has not fallen below the +30 mark, though it has been in positive territory since February 2010.

The East is clearly lagging behind the rest of the country. The region averaged +31 in May, compared with +42 in the South, +38 in the Midwest and +37 in the West. Since President Trump took the Oath of Office, employees in the South and Midwest have been markedly more likely to report net job creation than workers in the West.

“The East has experienced virtually no growth since last fall,” Art Swift of Gallup noted.

In May, 46% of employees said their company was hiring juxtaposed to 45% in April. The percentage who said their company was letting workers go was unchanged at 9%. Forty percent (40%) of workers said their employer was not changing the size of its workforce.

The Gallup U.S. Job Creation Index is based on employed U.S. adults, who report whether or not their employer is hiring workers and expanding the size of its workforce, or letting people go and reducing the size of its workforce.

The survey results reflect a strengthening labor market and are in line with the ADP National Employment Report, weekly jobless claims reports and even the latest unemployment rate released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) last week.

At 4.3%, the underemployment rate in May fell to a 16-year low.