watch
now
Job
growth
in
May
was
surprisingly
strong,
pushing
back
on
lingering
fears
of
a
broader
economic
slowdown
and
likely
slowing
the
Federal
Reserve’s
rate-cutting
timeline.
The
U.S.
economy
added
272,000
jobs
for
the
month,
coming
out
significantly
higher
than
the
Dow
Jones
consensus
estimate
of
190,000.
That’s
also
higher
than
the
average
monthly
gain
of
232,000
over
the
last
12
months,
according
to
the
U.S.
Bureau
of
Labor
Statistics.
In
May,
employment
swung
higher
in
several
industries,
with
health
care
leading
the
way
again
this
month,
followed
by
government
and
hospitality.
The
three
sectors,
respectively,
added
68,000,
43,000
and
42,000
jobs,
similar
to
trends
seen
over
the
past
year.
These
sectors
also
accounted
for
more
than
half
of
the
month’s
total
gains.
The
combined
health-care
and
social
assistance
space
netted
more
than
83,000
jobs
in
May.
The
professional,
scientific
and
technical
services
sector
was
also
a
bright
spot
in
May,
as
it
added
32,000
jobs
during
the
month,
which
is
much
higher
than
the
average
monthly
gain
of
19,000
over
the
past
12
months.
On
the
other
hand,
social
assistance
employment
trended
higher
as
it
added
15,000
last
month,
below
the
sector’s
average
of
22,000
jobs
per
month
seen
over
the
last
year.
Meanwhile,
job
losses
occurred
in
department
stores
and
furniture
and
home
furnishings
retailers.
Other
major
industries
—
including
oil
and
gas
extraction,
construction,
manufacturing,
information
and
financial
activities
—
all
saw
little
or
no
change
over
the
month
in
employment,
per
the
report.
Investors
walked
away
from
the
report
discouraged
that
the
Federal
Reserve
would
cut
rates
in
June,
noting
that
the
increase
in
job
growth
and
above-average
wage
growth
paints
a
picture
of
a
fairly
strong
consumer.
“As
has
been
the
case
recently,
job
growth
was
driven
by
non-cyclical
areas
like
health
care
and
government,
but
cyclical
areas
like
leisure
and
hospitality
were
strong…this
is
likely
to
keep
the
Fed
in
a
holding
pattern,
with
the
first
cut
likely
coming
only
in
September,
assuming
we
continue
to
see
softer
inflation,”
Sonu
Varghese,
global
macro
strategist
at
Carson
Group,
said
on
Friday.
