Jobs keep coming
US nonfarm payroll employment increased +164,000 in April 2018, racking up a 91st consecutive month of jobs gains.
The previous record was only 48 months.
There were also upwards revisions to take into account, taking 3-month average gains to a very healthy +208,000.
The unemployment rate fell to just 3.9 per cent, the lowest since December 2000.
And yet still no signs of strong earnings growth.
Average hourly earnings increased by 4 cents to $26.84.
Over the past year average hourly earnings have increased by 67 cents, or +2.6 per cent.
We saw a range of similar results in New Zealand this week.
The so-termed natural rate of unemployment is clearly lower than was believed a few years ago, and the same quite possibly holds true in Australia.
