US adds 172,000 jobs in May, strongly beating expectations

US employment growth surged in May, beating market expectations, while the unemployment rate remained steady, government data showed on Friday, with the labour market in the world’s largest economy sustaining recent gains.

“Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 172,000 in May, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.3 per cent,” the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal had expected job growth of 80,000 jobs.

Friday’s data release also revised job growth numbers for March and April upwards by a combined 93,000, a signal that the labour market may be exiting a recent period of turbulence.

Job growth in the United States has see-sawed between expansion and contraction from month to month over the last year, but May’s data marks the third straight month of increases.