May Employment Report Preview

Heading into Friday’s Non Farm Payrolls (NFP) report for May, economists are expecting an increase in payrolls of 190K, which would be a big improvement from April’s reading of 164K. In the private sector, economists are also expecting a similar increase of 190K. With these increases, the unemployment rate is expected to remain low at 3.

9%. The big area of focus, however, will come from average hourly earnings. With so much concern around inflation, any stronger than expected reading in wage measures will likely be viewed as a negative for the market.