Unexpected April Labor Strength Boosts Bond Yields
05/05/2023
The April jobs report didn’t cooperate with market expectations for slowing economic growth and retreating wages. U.S. companies added +253k payroll jobs last month, exceeding all but three of 77 forecasts in the Bloomberg survey, while hourly earnings rose by a too-solid +0.5%, and the unemployment rate fell back to a 54-year low. None of these headlines point to a near-term policy pivot by the Fed.