The U.S. stock market soared this morning with the Labor Department’s latest monthly report showing that the economy added 175,000 jobs in May.
All of the job gains came in the private sector, as the government labor ranks shrunk with the impact of the federal budget sequester. The federal government has shed 45,000 jobs in the past three months.
Manufacturing employment declined by 8,000 jobs last month.
The biggest job gains were in professional and business services, with temporary jobs up 26,000 in a potential sign that employers could expand their full-time staffs. The leisure and hospitality industry also showed strength, as did the retail sector.
Still, the national unemployment rate edged up to 7.6 percent from 7.5 percent in the previous month because more people entered the labor force in search of work.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed more than 175 points with the news.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s latest Beige Book report, economic activity in the Seventh District in the Midwest expanded at a “modest pace.” Growth in consumer spending increased slightly, as did growth in construction and real estate, the Fed said.
