By Gabriel T. Rubin

U.S. employers added 339,000 jobs in May as the labor market showed resilience in the face of rising interest rates and elevated inflation.

The job market added more positions in recent months than previously thought, as well. March and April's totals were both revised upward for a net gain of 93,000 jobs, the Labor Department said Friday. May's rise marked the 29th straight monthly increase in employment. The unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, still near historic lows but an uptick from April's 3.4%.

Business services, healthcare, construction, and transportation and warehousing were among the sectors adding jobs. Low unemployment has put pressure on wages as employers compete for scarce workers. Wages grew a solid 4.3% in May over the prior year.

Federal Reserve officials are closely monitoring the labor market as they consider their next policy move. The central bank in May lifted its benchmark federal-funds rate by a quarter percentage point to a range between 5% and 5.25%, its 10th consecutive increase intended to tame high inflation. Fed officials had hoped to see higher borrowing costs cause the economy to slow more by now, curbing wage and price increases.

Fed officials have signaled they are increasingly likely to hold interest rates steady at their meeting June 13-14 before preparing to raise them again later this summer.

Write to Gabriel T. Rubin at gabriel.rubin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 02, 2023 09:03 ET (13:03 GMT)