US NFP: We expect a 185K reading - Wells Fargo

Analysts from Wells Fargo, expect that on Friday, the US official employment report will show that the economy added 185K jobs in May, in line with market consensus and below the 211K of the previous meeting. 

Key Quotes: 

“Following a disappointing March report which showed job gains of just 79,000, hiring activity accelerated in April, climbing 211,000. The unemployment rate continued to decline and now stands at 4.4 percent. Looking at the year-over-year change in nonfarm employment growth it is clear how stable the pace of job gains has been over the last few months, with only a very slight downshift recently.”

“We expect the pace of job growth to maintain this steady pace once again in May with employers adding 185,000 jobs. We look for the unemployment rate to remain steady at 4.4 percent as the labor force participation rate climbs slightly higher. We expect the pace of job growth to average around 177,000 in Q2 and then gradually downshift in the third and fourth quarters of this year. We also expect the unemployment rate to remain steady at 4.4 percent through the end of this year.”