A critical flow of data heading to the Federal Reserve's June meeting, and a possible rate hike pause, began Friday with a stronger-than-anticipated jobs report showing U.S. payrolls and wage growth remain resilient.
in April, with hourly wages growing at a 4.4% annual rate, are just the first in a series of reports, including fresh information on prices beginning next week, that the Fed will receive before the June 13-14 meeting. The report did not in itself change broadBut it does show an economy that continues to surprise.
"The labor market surprisingly remains hot and tight," Nationwide Chief Economist Kathy Bostjancic wrote. "We...believe that the Fed will remain on hold for the remainder of the year, but if inflation readings surprise to the upside...then odds start to rise that the Fed might feel the need to raise rates a bit further."
The April jobs report also makes new economic projections due at the Fed's June meeting all the more consequential.But Fed projections in March that the unemployment rate would hit 4.5% by the end of the year now would mean a sharper decline in labor market conditions, with less time left, after the unemployment rate fell in April to 3.4% from 3.5%.
Yet all things equal, the updated policymaker projections in June would have to account for a tighter-than-anticipated job market, and estimate how that changes the course of inflation.
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