U.S. employers added 339,000 workers in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday, significantly above the 195,000 Wall Street expected and in line with the robust average monthly gain of 341,000 over the past 12 months. The unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked higher by three-tenths to 3.7% due to a large rise in unemployment people last month.
The prior two months were revised a combined 93,000 higher, with April job gains now at 294,000 and March at 217,000. Job growth was led by professional and business services (64,000), government (56,000), health care (52,000) and leisure and hospitality (48,000).
The jobs numbers add to the recent string of hotter-than-expected data that have prompted some Federal Reserve officials to call for additional interest rate increases. (See: MNI POLICY: Fed Most Divided Since Start of Hikes, More Loom)
Average hourly earnings rose 0.33% over the month, slowing slightly from 0.39% in April. It was up 4.30% over the past 12 months, a tad lower than 4.35% in April. But non-supervisory workers saw slightly better average hourly earnings growth, coming in at 0.45% last month from 0.35% in April, or 4.97% over the year compared to 4.95% in April.
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