--US May payroll jobs -19,000; jobless rate -0.1 pt to 4.4%
--US April payroll jobs revised to -182,000 from -223,000
--US March payroll jobs revised to +59,000 from -53,000
--US May avg hourly earnings +0.3%; April +0.4%
--US May avg hourly earnings +4.3% from yr ago; Apr +4.3%
--US May available labor pool down to 10.7 mln; April 10.8 mln
--US May workweek +0.1 hr; manufacturing workweek -0.2 hr
--US May weekly hours index unchanged at 151.5; factory index -1.5%
--US May factory jobs -124,000; wholesale trade jobs -14,000
--US May construction jobs +31,000; service producers jobs +70,000
--US May retail jobs -5,000; government jobs +13,000
--US May help supply jobs +1,000
--BLS aide: Job market weak in May but better than April

By Simon Kennedy and Andrew Williams
Washington, June 1 (BridgeNews) - The U.S. labor market remained soft in May, but employment conditions improved slightly after a very poor showing in April, as payrolls fell 19,000 but the unemployment rate slipped a notch to 4.4%, the Labor Department reported Friday. Meanwhile, revised government data showed that April payrolls fell 182,000, compared with a drop of 223,000 previously reported, while March payroll growth was 59,000, stronger than the drop of 53,000 last estimated.
* * * Analysts surveyed by BridgeNews had projected a 50,000 decrease in jobs and the unemployment rate rising from April's 4.5% to 4.6%.
"The job market remained weak in May, although the weakness was not as pronounced or quite as widespread as in April," said Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Katharine Abraham.
In May, manufacturers shed positions for the tenth successive month, cutting payrolls by 124,000 as they continued to battle recession in their industry. Meanwhile, wholesale traders cut 14,000 positions. Retailers cut 5,000 positions.
However, in other blue-collar sectors, construction employment increased 31,000, while mining jobs grew by 4,000.
Also underpinning the labor market was a gain of 70,000 in service-producing jobs. Within the sector, government jobs rose 13,000, while the narrow services category, primarily entertainment and restaurant jobs, added 42,000 to payrolls.
While a slight improvement from April, Friday's data may still concern Wall Street and the Federal Reserve.
Analysts say that should layoffs accelerate in coming months, this could sap consumer confidence and spending, removing a key support from the economy after it grew just 1.3% in the first quarter.