US unemployment spikes
It was a strong headline result for US nonfarm payrolls in May, with employment up +339,000.
However, unemployment jumped by +440,000 to 6.1 million, taking the unemployment rate up from 3.4 per cent to 3.7 per cent.
Average hourly earnings increased by only +0.3 per cent in the month, taking the annual growth back down to 4.3 per cent.
Data king James Foster ran the charting so I don't have to (thanks James!):
Asking rents are now likely to be lower over the year in June and July, which suggests that inflationary pressures will continue to abate.
Indeed, market-based expectations of inflation (5-year breakevens) fell to 2.07 per cent, the lowest since all the way back in January 2021.
Source: Charlie Bilello
Hopefully that's enough for the Federal Reserve to hold interest rates in June.
