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May Jobs Report: Hiring Spree Continues, Wages Pick Up Steam Too
U.S. companies continued on a hiring spree that added 223,000 jobs to the U.S. economy in May, according to the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report. Those strong numbers unexpectedly pushed the unemployment rate even lower, to 3.8%, the lowest level it has been since 2000.
The low unemployment rate indicates there’s a growing shortage of available labor, and employers are being forced to explore new groups of workers, such as those without high school diplomas. The drop also shows just how tough it has been to pull Americans back into the workforce and retain them, as reflected in a labor-force participation rate that slipped to 62.7% from 62.8% in April.
The pace of jobs growth hasn’t lost much steam either, though the country is nine-years into an economic growth cycle. Employment continued to trend up in several industries, including retail trade, healthcare and construction.
Wages are picking up steam too, though aren’t growing by much. May’s hourly earnings growth of 2.7% was better than economists forecasted.
The strong jobs report sets the stage for the Fed to lift rates in June, which would be the second increase of 2018.
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- ◦Economy
