May Jobs Report: Nonfarm Payrolls Surge 172,000, Smashing Estimates (UPDATED)

The U.S. labor market strengthened in May with nonfarm payrolls surging to 172,000 jobs, far exceeding economist estimates of 85,000. Prior months were also revised upward significantly, with March and April combined adding 93,000 more jobs than initially reported. The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.3%, while average hourly earnings grew 0.3% monthly and 3.4% year-over-year. The stronger-than-expected jobs data is being interpreted as hawkish by markets, boosting expectations for Federal Reserve rate hikes by year-end and pushing Treasury yields higher.