Here comes the jobs report...
- The official jobs report out Friday is expected to show that hiring remained strong in April and that wage growth picked up.
- Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast that the Bureau of Labor Statistics will say the US added 190,000 nonfarm payrolls last month.
- On average, nonfarm payrolls increased by a solid 180,000 per month in the first quarter.
The official jobs report out Friday is expected to show that hiring remained strong in April and that wage growth picked up.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast that the Bureau of Labor Statistics will say the US added 190,000 nonfarm payrolls last month. The unemployment rate is seen holding at 3.8%, its lowest level in nearly five decades.
That could push wage growth higher as companies compete for workers. Average hourly earnings are seen rising 0.3% after slowing in March, though increases have long come in softer than expected.
Strong results would offer further evidence that a weaker period of hiring earlier this year was just monthly noise and not the start of a downward trend. Hiring rebounded in March, with the US adding 196,000 jobs, after slowing to a near standstill in the previous month.
On average, nonfarm payrolls increased by a solid 180,000 per month in the first quarter.