The U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 4.5 percent in May, providing more evidence that the economy is on the rebound after the weak performance of the first quarter, the Labor Department reported Friday.

The report showed that employers added 157,000 new jobs to their payrolls in May, the most in two months.

Previous reports showed job growth of 88,000 in April and 177,000 in March. Monthly job growth has averaged 133,000 so far this year.

Health care and food services were among the sectors adding jobs in May, while employment declined in manufacturing.

Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents, or 0.3 percent, over the month.

Both the employment-population ratio and labor force participation rate were down by 0.4 percentage point from December.

The steady monthly performance suggest that the U.S. economy is regaining vitality after a lackluster first quarter.

The Commerce Department reported on Thursday that the world's biggest economy grew at an annual rate of 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2007, the worst showing since the final quarter of 2002.

With the unemployment rate near six-year lows, many economists believe the economy in the current second quarter will rebound, expanding at a pace of around 2.3 percent.

In May, total employment was about unchanged at 145.9 million, and the employment-population ratio held at 63.0 percent.

The civilian labor force also was about unchanged at 152.8 million, and the labor force participation rate remained at 66.0 percent.

Source: Xinhua