Workers created a record 339,000 new jobs in May, as the job market kept moving along despite rising interest rates and ongoing prices.
The unemployment rate increased from a five-decade record of 3.4% to 3.7%, according to data from an additional family survey, the Labor Department reported on Friday. The highest reading since October, that.
According to economists polled by Bloomberg, 195,000 jobs had been created in the previous month.
In addition, the payroll increases for March and April were increased by a combined 93,000, indicating better hiring than expected in the late winter and beginning of spring.
With the Federal Reserve’s vigorous interest rate increases intended to restrain hiring and pay growth and combat inflation, the labor market has proved unexpectedly durable.
In a session earlier this month, Fed policymakers indicated that they would suspend the rate rises, but the explosive May jobs data along with additional concerning inflation data late this month might disrupt that strategy.