U.S. employers boosted hiring in May as the easing pandemic, helped by vaccinations, pulled more people back into the labor force, offering assurance that the economy's recovery from the COVID-19 recession remained on track.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 559,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said in its closely watched employment report on Friday. Data for April was revised slightly higher to show payrolls rising by 278,000 jobs instead of 266,000 as previously reported.
April's initial employment count, which delivered roughly a quarter of the new jobs economists had forecast, led to handwringing among some economists and investors that growth was stagnating at a time when inflation was rising. That has allowed authorities across the country to lift virus-related restrictions on businesses, which nearly paralyzed the economy early in the pandemic.A worker shortage blamed on childcare complications, generous unemployment checks and lingering fears over COVID-19 sharply restrained hiring. There are a record 8.1 million job openings.
Despite vaccines being widely accessible, some segments of the population are reluctant to get inoculated, which labor market experts say is discouraging some people from returning to work.
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