According to the DOL, the U.S. economy added 172,000 non-farm payrolls in May, significantly outpacing the consensus forecast of just 85,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, in line with the average estimates provided by economists.

In its report, the DOL noted that job gains were concentrated in the leisure and hospitality, local government, and healthcare sectors, while employment in financial activities saw a decline.

Furthermore, job creation figures for the previous two months were revised upward substantially: March was adjusted from 185,000 to 214,000, and April from 115,000 to 179,000. This represents a combined net increase of 93,000 jobs compared to prior estimates.

More than 560,000 jobs created in three months

"Job creation over the last three months has been very significant, totaling 565,000 in aggregate. One has to look back more than two years to observe such strong momentum over a three-month period," noted Bastien Drut, Head of Strategy and Analysis at CPRAM.

"Several elements of the May employment report seem to confirm a stabilization of the labor market: a return to job creation outside the healthcare sector, a re-acceleration in hours worked, and a stabilization in temporary employment," he added. "This third consecutive positive jobs report puts direct pressure on the Fed, which is already grappling with accelerating inflation."

"After a period of weakness, American companies are once again creating more jobs," observed an economist at Commerzbank, who believes "the U.S. economy should continue to navigate the global energy crisis effectively."

Reassuring data on the impact of AI

These figures also tend to provide reassurance regarding the consequences of the artificial intelligence revolution on the labor market. The automation of numerous intellectual tasks made possible by AI had sparked fears of massive job losses across a wide range of sectors.

"While it is not necessarily easy to demonstrate the return on investment for AI, several companies that had reduced their workforces, justifying these departures by the productivity gains enabled by AI, are discreetly rehiring," noted Gregoire Kounowski, investment advisor at Norman K.

He reported that, according to Forrester, up to 55% of U.S. employers may regret certain AI-related layoffs. Furthermore, Gartner predicts that by 2027, half of the companies that justified workforce reductions through AI will rehire staff for similar roles.

"The idea that replacing a human salary with an AI license would generate immediate savings has proven, so far, to be quite false. Workforce analysis reveals that 73% of organizations that carried out personnel reductions due to AI have not realized financial gains," Kounowski added.

"In this context, investors would be wise to temper their enthusiasm: current valuations in the AI sector bake in productivity gains that, on the ground, have yet to materialize," the professional concluded.