According to new data, US employers added 390,000 new jobs in May, exceeding expectations.
The US Labor Department figure beat economists’ forecasts for a 325,000 increase in new jobs, though May’s increase was the slowest in a year.
For the third month in a row, the unemployment rate remained at 3.6 percent.
The health of the world’s largest economy’s labour market is being closely monitored as rapidly rising prices raise concerns about a future downturn.
Some businesses have announced plans to slow or stop hiring in recent weeks.
Retail behemoths such as Walmart and Amazon have admitted to hiring too aggressively earlier this year, resulting in lower profits as rising prices proved more difficult to pass on.
Meanwhile, electric carmaker Tesla is reportedly halting hiring and has warned that 10% of its workforce may be laid off. Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed concern about the economy in an email to employees obtained by the news agency Reuters.
Consumer and financial market sentiment have recently deteriorated.
According to data, the annual rate of US inflation reached 8.3 percent in the year to April, a slight decrease from the level recorded in March but the highest rate since 1981.
According to analysts, job growth in May was solid, albeit slower than in the previous year.
Many economists have long predicted that job growth would slow after several months of unusually strong gains.
According to the Labor Department, employment in the United States has nearly recovered to where it was before the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March 2020.
The leisure and hospitality sector, which is still catching up from deep cuts made during Covid restrictions, reported the largest increase in new jobs last month, up 84,000.