Nonfarm payrolls increase by 223,000 in May, vs 188,000 estimate

• June 1, 2018
• realestate
• Announcements, Business & Markets, Real Estate, Your Real Estate Life

The U.S. economy continued to add jobs at a solid clip in May, with nonfarm payrolls up 223,000 while the unemployment rate was 3.8 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had been expecting a gain of 3.9 percent and the jobless level to hold at 3.9 percent. The May numbers follow an initially reported 164,000 new jobs in April.
The closely watched average hourly earnings metric rose 0.3 percent, as expected. That translates to an annualized rate of 2.7 percent, up one-tenth of a point from April.

In addition to the better-than-expected payrolls for May, March’s count was revised up from 135,000 to 155,000 while April ended lower from 164,000 to 159,000, for a net gain of 15,000.

Investors have been looking through the headline job gains to see whether a tight labor market was pressuring wage growth. The Federal Reserve in particular has been watching for inflationary signs. Central bank officials have indicated that two more interest rate hikes are likely this year on top of the one already approved in March.

However, a noticeable rise in inflation could change that. Markets currently are pricing in about a 30 percent of four total hikes this year.