U.S. private payrolls increased more than expected in May, suggesting that the labor market was slowing only gradually, which could result in the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates elevated for some time. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private employment increasing 170,000. Job growth has slowed from last year's robust pace, but the labor market has remained resilient despite 500 basis points worth of interest rate hikes from the Fed since March 2022, when the U.S. central bank embarked on its fastest monetary policy tightening campaign since the 1980s to tame inflation.