Economics

U.S. Payrolls, Wages Cool as Trade War Weighs on Economy

  • Revisions subtract 75,000 jobs from prior two months
  • Unemployment rate unchanged at half-century low of 3.6%
What the U.S. May Jobs Report Means for the Fed and Markets
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U.S. employers added the fewest workers in three months and wage gains cooled, suggesting broader economic weakness and boosting expectations for a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut as President Donald Trump’s trade policies weigh on growth.

Nonfarm payrolls rose 75,000 in May after a downwardly revised 224,000 advance the prior month, according to a Labor Department report Friday. The increase missed all estimates in Bloomberg’s survey calling for 175,000. The jobless rate held at a 49-year low of 3.6% while average hourly earnings climbed 3.1% from a year earlier, less than projected.