U.S. Economy Adds 390,000 Jobs in May, Exceeds Economists' Expectations

U.S. Economy Adds 390,000 Jobs in May, Exceeds Economists' Expectations

The U.S. economy added 390,000 jobs in May, said the U.S. Department of  Labor Friday. The gains extend the streak of strong gains.

This is welcomed news as Americans battle inflation.

The jobless rate remained at 3.6%.

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“We’re still seeing improvements in the labor market. We’re still putting people who were unemployed over the pandemic back to work. But it’s more sustainable over the long run,”  Augustine Faucher, chief economist at the PNC Financial Services Group told the Wall Street Journal.

Competition for workers amid a severe labor shortage has driven up annual wage increases above 5% every month this year. By contrast, wage gains averaged 3.2% in the 12 months to February 2020, reports the WSJ.

There were 11.4 million job openings in April, the Labor Department reported Wednesday—a historically high number but down slightly from 11.9 million in March. The number of job openings per unemployed worker dipped slightly to 1.9 in April from 2 in March.