FILE - Assembly line worker Lashunta Harris applies the Ford logo on a 2024 Ford F-150 truck being assembled at the Dearborn Truck Plant, April 11, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich. On Friday, June 5, 2024, the U.S. government issues its June jobs report. FILE - Samantha Grimison makes a cup of coffee at the Blind Tiger Cafe on Jan. 10, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. On Friday, June 5, 2024, the U.S. government issues its June jobs report.
That said, economists been repeatedly predicting that the job market would lose momentum in the face of high interest rates engineered by the Fed, only to see the hiring gains show unexpected strength. The economy has added a healthy average of. That’s close to the 2023 average of 251,000, though down from the sizzling gains of 2022 and 2021 as the economy roared back from COVID-19 recession.
Already, there are signs of an economic slowdown. The U.S. gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services — grew atConsumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of all U.S. economic activity and which has powered the expansion the past three years,last quarter after growing more than 3% in each of the previous two quarters. In addition, the number of advertised job openings has declined steadily since peaking at a record 12.2 million in March 2022.
Fed officials are sure to be watching Friday’s jobs report for signs that wage pressures are easing. According to FactSet, forecasters believe that average hourly earnings rose 3.9% last month from a year earlier. That would be the smallest such gain since June 2021. But it would still exceed the 3.5% average annual wage growth that many economists consider consistent with 2% inflation.