- A new Labor Department report found U.S. employers added 172,000 new positions in May.
- The job count far exceeded economists' expectations as unemployment held steady at 4.3%.
- While the jobs sector is heading out of a slump, inflation is running at a three-year high.
A new federal report found U.S. employers added 172,000 positions in May, more than doubling economists’ estimates as unemployment held steady and previous jobs numbers saw upward adjustments.
The package of new data released Friday suggests the U.S. jobs market may be in recovery mode following months of slumping activity amid broader economic uncertainty.
The Labor Department’s Employment Situation Summary shows the U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 4.3% in May as new job totals blew by consensus estimates of around 80,000 positions for the month.
“This is a labor market that is stronger than it was last year and is looking pretty darn solid, despite high energy prices and higher inflation generally,” Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC, told CNBC. “There’s no indication that the labor market needs support.”
Leisure and hospitality led all sectors in job gains last month, adding 70,000 new positions with local government operations adding 55,000 to their payrolls while healthcare and social assistance businesses grew by 47,000 new jobs.
The report also included upward revisions to previous job tallies in March and April. The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics moved the March jobs count up by 29,000 to 214,000, the biggest monthly gain since December 2024 and April’s jobs data gained 64,000 to a revised 179,000 monthly count.
The U.S. jobs market has now shown gains for three straight months for the first time since spring of 2025.
“What we’re seeing here is the catch-up from last year where employers were on pause” due to trade policy uncertainties and federal-government cuts, Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo, told the Wall Street Journal. “Employers have a better sense of the growth backdrop.”
The latest data from the Utah Department of Workforce Services shows Utah’s unemployment rate for April stood at 3.8%, matching March’s statewide rate.
Labor market brightening but inflation still running hot
The positive jobs data follows a pair of inflation reports in the past month that tell a different story about the state of the U.S. economy. The split narratives are likely to provide a challenge for Federal Reserve governors when they gather for their next monetary policy meeting later this month.
The monthly Consumer Price Index and Personal Consumption Expenditures Index reports both reflected U.S. inflation hitting three-year highs in April, driven in large part by higher energy costs, a direct result of the ongoing Iran war.
With the continued disruption of petroleum shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, economists predict higher costs are in store for a broad array of consumer goods. A recent Purdue University analysis predicts the broad energy shock precipitated by a sustained war could add three to six percentage points to grocery inflation over the coming 12 to 18 months.
This is the bifurcated U.S. economic scenario that will face newly installed Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace the outgoing Jerome Powell.
Warsh is expected to navigate his new leadership role with an eye toward rate cuts but will need to get the Fed’s governors on board in circumstances in which arguments for a rate reduction are likely to ring hollow.
Interest rate adjustments are the Fed’s primary tool for maintaining its dual mandate of maximum employment and price stability. Generally speaking, higher rates raise the cost of debt, slow the economy and reduce inflation. Lower rates reduce the cost of borrowing and boost the jobs sector.
After making three straight reductions to its benchmark interest rates in its last three meetings of 2025, the Fed’s policy setting Federal Open Market Committee has stood pat on a 3.5% to 3.75% federal funds interest rate window in the face of shifting economic winds.