Strong US Payrolls and Wage Growth Push Back Bets for Fed Cuts

  • Nonfarm payrolls climbed 272,000 in May, above all estimates
  • Wage gains accelerated, unemployment rate unexpectedly rose
Workers apply labels to boxes.Photographer: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg
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US job growth surged in May and wages accelerated, prompting traders to push back the expected timing of Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts.

Nonfarm payrolls advanced 272,000 last month, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed Friday, beating all projections in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Average hourly earnings climbed 0.4% from April and 4.1% from a year ago, both picking up from the prior report.