It’s another strong U.S. employment report
- US Labor May Nonfarm Payrolls +223K; Consensus +190K
- US May Unemployment Rate 3.8%; Consensus 3.9%
- US May Average Hourly Earnings +0.3%, or +$0.08 to $26.92; Over Year +2.7%
- US May Private Sector Payrolls +218K and Government Payrolls +5K
- US May Average Workweek Unchanged at 34.5 Hours
- US May Labor-Force Participation Rate 62.7%
- US April Payrolls Revised to +159K; Mar Revised to +155K
- US April Unemployment Unrevised at 3.9%
U.S. unemployment rate fell to an 18-year low last month and U.S. employers steadily added jobs.
Non-farm payrolls rose a seasonally adjusted 223,000 in May and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.8%.
Wages in May improved modestly, growing 2.7% y/y. Revised figures show employers added 159,000 jobs in April and 155,000 in March, a net upward revision of 15,000.
Digging deeper
Average hourly earnings for all private-sector workers increased 8c last month to $26.92. The 2.7% annual again is small compared to pre-recession readings.
Note: The last time unemployment was near current levels wages rose 4.3% from a year earlier.
Net result, the low unemployment rate and modest wage increases should keep Fed in line to hike rates at a meeting later this month. Consumer inflation has strengthened in recent months to reach the Fed’s 2% annual target.
The USD has extended its gains against some G7 currency pairs (€1.1670, C$1.2971, ¥109.60, £1.3317).
U.S. 10-year yield trades up at 2.91%.
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