top of page

Unemployment Rate at 3.8%, with 223,000 jobs added in May

June 1, 2018
SVN Imbrie Staff

The US Labor Department released the official hiring and unemployment numbers for the month of May 2018. According to the department, 223,000 jobs were added and unemployment rate is at 3.8%, down from 3.9% in April. It marks the lowest since 2000.  Job gains have averaged around 207,000 a month, a faster pace than last year or the year before last.
 
May's employment increases included gains of 31,100 retail jobs, 31,700 in health care, 25,000 in construction and 18,000 in manufacturing. Factory jobs have grown by 259,000 in the past year, with most of the growth in long-lasting goods, the Labor Department said. Martha Gimbel, researcher director at Indeed.com said, “the labor market is continuing its longest streak of job growth on record, this recovery is showing no sign of slowing down.” It is believed that unemployment rate will fall even further later this year to 3.5%, which would be the lowest rate since 1969. 

However, despite that positive job growth report, average earning only rose by 8 cents an hour and is up 2.7% over the previous year which is barely above inflation. Some economists have been predicting that wages would start to rise as employers find it more difficult to find workers to fill positions and will raise wages to prevent employees from jumping to competitors. 

​

With the strong jobs report in hand, many economists expect the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates at their next meeting in mid-June.

bottom of page