This week will bring a fresh batch of data on the current state of the job market, from April’s job openings and layoffs report on Tuesday to May’s closely watched payroll and unemployment report on Friday.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg anticipate signs of relative health, estimating a gain of 85,000 jobs last month and an unchanged unemployment rate at 4.3%
If that prediction holds, May would be the third consecutive month of positive payroll growth. That’s an improvement from late 2025, when economists were watching the labor market apprehensively as the country added virtually no jobs. Now, their attention is instead shifting to concerns about rising prices, which are eating away at workers’ pay gains and tanking consumer sentiment.
These days, the economy seems to be creating more than enough positions needed to sustain “breakeven” employment growth, or the number necessary to keep the jobless rate steady. As immigration levels slide and the workforce ages, that number may be anywhere from 15,000 to 87,000 roles, by one estimate, which helps explain why job growth can be very low relative to levels seen just a few years ago. Here’s the jobs data schedule for this week: – April Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS): June 2, 10 a.m.