The U.S. labor market continues to simmer as the economy added significantly more jobs than expected in May, furthering the view that the Federal Reserve will wait until at least September to cut interest rates.Employment data also showed the jobless rate inching slightly higher to 4% from 3.9% in April, breaching a 27-month stretch of holding below that threshold. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 272,000 jobs last month, exceeding forecasts of 180,000.
'Current wage gains are outpacing the recent rate of inflation, helping individuals and households to recover some of their lost buying power,' Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, said in a note. Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist for Nationwide, noted that the strong job growth in May contrasts with other signals the economy is revving down.