File - Women work in a restaurant kitchen in Chicago, Thursday, March 23, 2023. On Friday, the U.S. government issues the May jobs report. The labor market has added jobs at a steady clip in the past year, despite efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool the economy and bring down inflation. File - Women work in a restaurant kitchen in Chicago, Thursday, March 23, 2023. On Friday, the U.S. government issues the May jobs report.
The stronger hiring demonstrates the job market’s resilience after more than a year of rapid interest rate increases by the Fed. Many industries, from construction to restaurants to health care, are still adding jobs to keep up with consumer demand and restore their workforces to pre-pandemic levels.
Some cracks in the economy’s foundations, though, have begun to emerge. Home sales have tumbled. A measure of factory activity indicated that it has contracted for seven straight months. The U.S. economy as a whole has been gradually weakening. It grew at a lackluster 1.3% annual rate from January through March, after 2.6% annual growth from October through December and 3.2% from July through September.