Washington ? U.S. employers hired almost a quarter-million new workers in May, swelling payrolls by nearly 1.2 million for the year so far in a jobs market steadily gaining steam ahead of November’s presidential election.

The nation’s unemployment rate held steady at 5.6 percent as more jobless workers renewed their searches and re-entered the labor pool, the Labor Department said Friday.

May’s payroll increase of 248,000 was on top of revised employment figures for March and April showing 74,000 more jobs were added than previously reported. Three quarters of the total jobs created this year were added in the past three months.

“These blowout numbers so far this year are the convincing evidence that the economic recovery is here to stay,” said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Wells Fargo & Co. in Minneapolis. “The last piece of the puzzle, jobs, has fallen into place.”

The job-creation numbers exceeded analysts’ expectations and cemented predictions of the first interest rate increase in four years when the Federal Reserve meets June 29. A quarter-point increase in the Fed’s key federal funds rate is close to certain, followed by another hike in August.

Hiring last month was widespread, with the biggest gains in construction, health care, professional and business services and hotels and restaurants.

“What is really key is that every major sector had improvements,” said John Silvia, chief economist for Wachovia Securities. “That suggests these gains are sustainable.”

The struggling manufacturing sector also is reawakening, adding 32,000 new jobs last month. Based on revised figures, it was the fourth straight month of payroll increases after almost three years of continuous losses.