Hiring among U.S. employers accelerated in May despite persistent high interest rates and slower consumer spending, but job gains at the metro level were less than expected.

Only six of the top 10 markets for employment gains increased their 12-month totals from April, adding an average of just 4,600 jobs per market, according to an analysis by RealPage, based on employment data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the remaining four markets, annual job gain totals decreased.

New York was the only market to top 100,000 new jobs added for the year, although it lost 13,300 jobs month to month. Only two markets – Phoenix and Houston – added between 50,000 and 99,999 jobs during the past year. Houston retained its second-place spot with 81,700 jobs added year over year and 1,900 from April. Phoenix outpaced Dallas to land in the third spot with 52,300 new jobs added during the past year.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.

Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.