Despite punishing inflation, chronic supply shortages, the war in Ukraine and much higher borrowing costs, Friday’s jobs report showed that last month’s hiring kept the unemployment rate at 3.6%, just above the lowest level in a half-century.
WASHINGTON — America’s employers added 428,000 jobs in April, extending a streak of solid hiring that has defied punishing inflation, chronic supply shortages, the Russian war against Ukraine and much higher borrowing costs.
“With labor market conditions still this strong — including very rapid wage growth — we doubt that the Fed is going to abandon its hawkish plans,″ said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics. “Yes, we saw a bump in wages,” Bovino said. But with inflation at 40-year highs “people are still squeezed.’’
For now, the resilience of the job market is particularly striking when set against the backdrop of galloping price increases and rising borrowing costs. This week, the Labor Department provided further evidence that the job market is still booming. It reported that only 1.38 million Americans were collecting traditional unemployment benefits, the fewest since 1970. And it said that employers posted a record-high 11.
“Trying to slow the economy just enough, without causing a recession,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. “Their track record on that is not particularly good.”