With job growth slowing and unemployment rising, is a rate cut on the way?

    By
    -

    Breaking from a string of data showing surprising strength in the labor market, job growth slowed and unemployment rose in April, The Wall Street Journal reports.

    Employers in the U.S. added a seasonally adjusted 175,000 jobs last month—below the 240,000 economists expected and far less than the 300,000-plus added in March.

    The unemployment rate, meanwhile, ticked up from 3.8% in March to 3.9% in April. While the labor market does seem to be cooling, there does not appear to be any serious deterioration in hiring conditions.

    Wages also rose less than predicted, increasing 3.9% year over year after rising 4.1% in March.

    These figures ease fears of an “overheating economy” and will keep hope alive for a late-summer interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve. They won’t change much about the Fed’s immediate outlook, though, as another employment report is due before officials’ June 11-12 meeting.

    Read more from The Wall Street Journal.