The US job market is still showing signs of weakness under the surface:

Full-time employment fell -79,000 in May, to 134.17 million, the lowest since December 2024.

This marks the 2nd consecutive monthly decline and the 4th over the last 5 months, totaling -1.04 million.

Full-time employment is also now below the levels seen in March-June 2023.

As a % of total employment, this metric is down to 82.4%, in-line with the 2020 pandemic low.

By comparison, the 2022 peak and pre-Financial Crisis peak were 83.8% and 83.2%, respectively.

The US labor market is weaker than the headline numbers suggest.