The U.S. labor market added 115,000 nonfarm payrolls last month, blowing past economist forecasts for 62,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
The print marks a slight deceleration from the prior month's upwardly revised 185,000 gain.
The unemployment rate held at 4.3%, unchanged from the previous reading and in line with the 4.3% consensus.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% month-over-month, missing the 0.3% estimate. On an annual basis, pay climbed 3.6%, landing just below the 3.8% forecast.
Job gains were concentrated in health care (+37,000), transportation and warehousing (+30,000), and retail trade (+22,000). Federal government employment continued its slide, falling by another 9,000 - and is now down 348,000, or 11.5%, since peaking in October 2024.
Market Reactions
The stronger-than-expected payrolls headline reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep rates on hold for longer. CME FedWatch is now pricing a nearly 90% probability of no rate change by year-end, while the odds of an outright hike over the next 12 months have climbed to 38.5%.
CUTHOLDHIKE
Meeting Date / 3.25-3.50% / 3.50-3.75% / 3.75-4.00%
Jun 17, 2026 /2.95% /97.05% /0.00%
Jul 29, 2026 /11.50% /88.50% /0.00%
Sep 16, 2026 /10.36% /89.64% /0.00%
Oct 28, 2026 /1.50% /98.50% /0.00%
Dec 09, 2026 /0.00% /88.39% /11.61%
Jan 27, 2027 /0.00% /81.50% /18.50%
Mar 17, 2027 /0.00% /67.93% /32.07%
Apr 28, 2027 /0.00% /61.50% /38.50%
Jun 09, 2027 /0.00% /64.96% /35.04%
CME FedWatch as of May 8, 2026, 9 a.m. ET
Stock futures rallied into the Friday open. Futures tracking the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) climbed 0.62% to 7,382.05.
Dow futures added 0.44% to 49,815, and contracts on the outperformed with a 0.82% gain to 28,798. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are on pace for a sixth straight weekly gain - the longest winning streak since October 2024.
Chipmakers continued to lead pre-market gains among mega caps. Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) surged 6.80% to $216.31, while Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) climbed 3.36% to $668.36, extending the semiconductor sector's recent rally.