Hiring in the US remained high in April amid fears that rapidly increasing prices and other economic upheaval might lead to slowdown.
Employers created 428,000 jobs, but the unemployment rate kept unchanged at 3.6 percent , the Labor Department reported.
The increases were larger than predicted, marking the 16th month of growth.
As it begins to hike rates to attempt to control inflation, the growth is expected to boost perceptions at the US central bank too that the world economy is well positioned.
“It keeps them on pace,” said Kathy Bostjancic, chief US economist at Oxford Economics.
The US economy has rebounded more swiftly than many thought after government shutdowns in the early months of the of the epidemic wiped nearly 22 million jobs.
Across the economy, firms have struggled to recruit employees to match demand, leading them to boost salaries at the quickest rate in years. In April, average hourly income increased by 5.5 percent year over year.
Wesley Davis, a 35-year-old project manager in the technology industry in Colorado, said he found a new position in only three and a half weeks after starting looking earlier this year.
More than a hundred messages too from recruiters flooded in after he changed his good professional profile online to suggest he was searching for job. He also said that when he submitted his wage needs to employers, they didn’t object – although he did warn that he was only seriously interested in employment that allowed him to work from home.
He was able to virtually quadruple his compensation in the end, he said.
Wesley said that the epidemic had changed working circumstances by extending distant posts and encouraging employees to resign at historically high rates, a phenomenon known as the Great Resignation.
“I encourage everyone with expertise to hunt for job since remuneration offers for experienced experts are far higher than they were,” he added.
Wages have not yet, however, increased as rapidly as other expenses. Inflation in the US surged 8.5 percent in March, driven by soaring costs for oil, food and other items.
To attempt to rein in the hikes, the US central bank announced its largest interest rate hike in more than two decades on Wednesday, raising its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to a range of 0.75 percent to 1 percent.
Raising interest rates often reduces demand by simply making borrowing more costly, which helps to slow price growth.
But with central banks throughout the globe making similar adjustments, many are fearful the change in policy may lead to a harsher recession, particularly as the crisis and recent global Covid shutdowns in China create fresh economic hurdles.
