U.S. Job Growth Slightly Exceeds Estimates In May

(RTTNews) - Employment in the U.S. increased by slightly more than expected in the month of May, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 139,000 jobs in May after jumping by a downwardly revised 147,000 jobs in April.

Economists had expected employment to increase by about 130,000 jobs compared to the addition of 177,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The modestly stronger than expected job partly reflected increases in employment in the healthcare and social assistance and leisure and hospitality sectors, which added 78,300 jobs and 48,000 jobs, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the federal government continued to lose jobs, with federal government employment falling by 22,000 jobs in May.

The report also said the unemployment rate came in at 4.2 percent in May, unchanged from the previous month and in line with economist estimates.

The unemployment rate remained flat as a 696,000-person plunge by the household survey measure of employment was offset by a 625,000-person slump in the size of the labor force.

""These data lined up well with market expectations and are likely to keep the Federal Reserve on hold for the next meeting or two," said Mortgage Bankers Association SVP and Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni.

He added, "If the job market does weaken further this summer, as MBA forecasts, there will likely be two cuts to the federal funds target this year."

The Labor Department also said average hourly employee earnings increased by 15 cents or 0.4 percent to $36.24 in May.

Average hourly employee earnings in May were up by 3.9 percent compared to the same month a year ago, unchanged from April.