U.S. Added 75,000 Jobs in May as Hiring Slowed

Employers tapped the brakes on hiring in May, signaling companies are taking a more cautious approach at a time of slowing global growth and trade tensions and adding to other signs of slowing U.S. economic growth this spring.

The economy added 75,000 jobs in May, marking the 104th straight month of gains, but pulling back from two months of stronger hiring, the Labor Department said Friday. The jobless rate held steady at 3.6%, a near-50-year low.

Wages were up 3.1% on the year in May. Annual pay gains appear to be stabilizing around 3% rather than accelerating in a tight labor market.

Manufacturers added 3,000 workers to payrolls, continuing a weak streak for a sector most tied to trade tensions and slowing growth abroad. But state and local government payrolls, domestic in nature, fell by 19,000, which could show these employers are having a tough time finding workers in a competitive job market.

The latest employment figures fit with other data showing the economy is cooling from a more rapid pace of growth last year and in the first quarter of 2019.

Forecasters generally expect U.S. growth to slow in 2019 due to the ebbing stimulus from tax cuts and government spending increases, a weakening global economy and the effects of President Trump’s trade policies on business investment, hiring and other activity. Forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers, for instance, projected Thursday the economy would expand at a 1.6% annual rate in the second quarter, down from a 3.1% pace in the first three months of the year.

The economy has sent mixed signals in recent months. The services sector, which accounts for 88% of U.S. gross domestic product, keeps expanding and consumers are spending briskly. But manufacturing output fell in the first four months of the year and the housing market has remained soft.