American employers added an unanticipated barrage of employees in May, reaffirming the labor market’s vigor.

Defying expectations of a slowdown, payrolls grew by 339,000 on a seasonally adjusted foundation, the Labor Department mentioned on Friday. The improve, the most important since January, urged that the job market was nonetheless piping scorching regardless of a swirl of financial headwinds.

But beneath the floor, the report additionally provided proof of softening. The unemployment fee, whereas nonetheless traditionally low, jumped to three.7 p.c, the best stage since October. In an indication that the strain to entice employees with pay will increase is lifting, wage progress eased.

The dissonance provided a considerably muddled image that complicates the calculus for the Federal Reserve, which has been elevating rates of interest for greater than a 12 months to mood the labor market’s momentum and rein in value will increase. Fed officers have indicated that the roles report will probably be an necessary issue as they determine whether or not to boost rates of interest once more.

“We’re still seeing a labor market that’s gradually cooling,” mentioned Sarah House, an economist at Wells Fargo. “But it’s at a glacial place.”

President Biden hailed the report, saying in a press release that “today is a good day for the American economy and American workers.” The S&P 500 index rose greater than 1.4 p.c as the info portrayed an financial engine that was operating sturdy however not overheating.

Looming over the report is the debt ceiling deal authorised by Congress, although economists largely anticipate the spending caps and cuts to have solely marginal impression on the labor market going ahead.

The hiring numbers recommend that employers stay longing for employees even within the face of excessive rates of interest and financial uncertainty. Many are nonetheless bringing on staff to fulfill client demand, particularly for providers. The solely main sectors to lose jobs have been manufacturing and data.

Powering the job good points have been skilled and enterprise providers, together with accounting and bookkeeping, which added 64,000 jobs. Leisure and hospitality companies — buoyed by eating places and bars — added 48,000 jobs, as Americans proceed to dine out with relish. Government employment, which remains to be catching as much as prepandemic ranges, additionally rose considerably, predominantly on the state and native stage.

In a shock, the development sector, which is delicate to rising rates of interest, grew by 25,000 jobs.

“There is a lot of optimism that still exists,” mentioned Tom Gimbel, the founder and chief government of LaSalle Network, a nationwide staffing and recruiting agency. “If the Fed would slow down right now, consensus seems to be — from the small- to medium-sized business C.E.O.s that I talk to — that the economy could continue to be strong for the next 24 to 30 months.”

Sean Harrell, a common supervisor at Southland, a household restaurant and procuring complicated in Moyock, N.C., mentioned enterprise had been booming, with prospects flocking to Southland’s retailer for ice cream, fudge and fireworks. Rather than be dissuaded by the value will increase in latest months, Mr. Harrell mentioned, prospects have largely shrugged them off.

The result’s that the corporate can’t appear to rent quick sufficient. On a latest weekend, he mentioned, Southland was pressured to shut its restaurant’s eating room for dinner and supply to-go orders solely as a result of it didn’t have sufficient employees for desk service.

“We’re having to operate with a thinner staff than we used to,” he mentioned.

Labor pressure participation was comparatively unchanged in May, at 62.6 p.c, whereas the share of individuals of their prime working years — 25 to 54 years outdated — collaborating within the labor market edged as much as 83.4 p.c, a stage not seen since 2007.

The figures in Friday’s report are preliminary and will probably be revised a minimum of twice. Upward revisions to the earlier two months’ knowledge added 93,000 jobs, making the gradual hiring slowdown seem much more incremental.

At the identical time, notes of warning are reverberating by means of the labor market and the broader financial system. Wage progress slowed in May, with hourly earnings rising 0.3 p.c from April, and 4.3 p.c from a 12 months earlier.

The variety of hours labored ticked down barely, and it’s roughly according to its prepandemic stage. “If that number descends for quite some time, that is seen as a sign that the labor market is about to significantly cool off,” mentioned Nick Bunker, the director of North American financial analysis on the job search web site Indeed.

That would point out that increased rates of interest are reaching the Fed’s intention, however not with out ache. Notably, the unemployment fee for Black Americans, which in April reached its lowest point on record, rose practically a full share level in May, to five.6 p.c.

“It looks as though conditions are slackening and affecting the most vulnerable, low-wage, minority workers the most,” mentioned Julia Pollak, the chief economist at ZipRecruiter.

The uneven message in Friday’s report is partially as a result of it consists of two surveys, considered one of employers and considered one of households. For instance, the weak point within the family survey stemmed partly from a decline within the ranks of the self-employed — employees who should not counted within the tally of payroll jobs.

Forecasters proceed to anticipate the labor market to weaken within the second half of the 12 months as rate of interest will increase take firmer root.

Already, client confidence is weak. Sectors together with banking and manufacturing have proven clear indicators of misery. In its most up-to-date region-by-region survey, generally known as the Beige Book, the Fed reported that many companies mentioned they have been “fully staffed” whereas some mentioned they have been “pausing hiring or reducing head counts due to weaker actual or prospective demand or to greater uncertainty about the economic outlook.”

An enormous query is whether or not deeper cracks will emerge — and when.

One piece of that puzzle is layoffs, which have stayed low exterior of some big-name firms within the expertise and media sectors. Instead, many companies stay reluctant to let go of staff, preferring as an alternative to shrink their staffing ranges by means of attrition.

That is how Doug Bassett, the president of the Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Company in Galax, Va., is hoping to make it by means of a droop in enterprise. Like different producers, Vaughan-Bassett noticed a surge in gross sales for its domestically made wood furnishings throughout the first part of the pandemic. To meet the second, the corporate employed about 75 employees, bringing its whole to roughly 575.

But as Americans have resumed eating out and taking holidays, and better mortgage charges slowed the housing market, demand has receded. As a consequence, Mr. Bassett mentioned, his head rely is again the place it was earlier than the pandemic.

“We are hopeful that business will pick up by the end of the year,” he mentioned. “But we’re not going to change our approach until we see it in the numbers.”

Ben Casselman, Joe Rennison and Michael D. Shear contributed reporting.