Employers in the United States increased their hiring in May, adding a solid 339,000 jobs, well above expectations and evidence of lasting strength in an economy the Federal Reserve is desperately trying to cool.
Friday’s government report reflected the resilience of the labor market after more than a year of rapid interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Many industries, from construction to restaurants to healthcare, are still adding jobs to keep up with consumer demand and restore their workforces to pre-pandemic levels.
However, there were some mixed messages in the jobs numbers, which also showed the unemployment rate rising to 3.7%, from a five-decade low of 3.4% in April. The government compiles unemployment data with a different survey than the one used to calculate employment gains. The two surveys can sometimes conflict.
The length of the average work week also fell and wage growth cooled, resulting in a jobs report that economists said painted an unusually difficult picture of the job market. Still, the overall picture was encouraging.
“Job growth remains robust in what is certainly a historically tight labor market,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at consultancy RSM. “As long as the economy continues to produce more than 200,000 jobs a month, this economy is simply not going to go into recession.”
In Friday’s report, the government sharply raised its estimate for job growth in March and April by an additional 93,000 jobs, underscoring the durability of the labor market.
The median hourly wage rose 11 cents to $33.44, up 4.3% from a year ago. Wages continue to grow faster than the 3% annual pace before the pandemic, but are down from last year’s nearly 6% rate.
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