The May employment report was generally strong, with payrolls growth much larger than expected, the unemployment rate steady, and hourly earnings growth faster than the previous month.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 172,000 in May after a 179,000 gain in April and a 214,000 increase in March, both revised higher from their previous estimates by a combined 93,000. Private payrolls rose by 120,000, above expectations and following a 177,000 gain in March.
Leisure and hospitality jobs jumped by 70,000 in May while health care jobs were up 47,200 and government jobs rose by 52,000.
The unemployment rate remained at 4.3%, with the details showing underlying improvement. The labor force rose by 83,000 as labor force participation held steady. Household employment surged by 149,000 while the number of unemployed fell by 66,000.
Average hourly earnings were up 0.3% in May, faster than a 0.2% increase in April, but the year-over-year rate slowed to 3.4% from 3.6%.
Consumer credit usage rose by $20.7 billion in April after a $22.3 billion gain in March, with revolving credit use rising at a faster rate and nonrevolving credit use rising at a slower rate compared with March.
The Q2 GDPnow estimate from the St. Louis Fed is for a 1.606% gain, revised up from 1.047% gain in the previous estimate.