Hicks: Jobs Report Reflects Strong Labor Market

Hicks believes the Fed may take new action in December.

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Ball State University economist Michael Hicks says the national jobs report for May reflects a "continuation of strong labor markets." He says the U.S. is now in the second-longest economic expansion in its history, and the longest since the 1840s. 

The U.S. Department of Labor says 223,000 jobs were created last month, with the national unemployment rate dropping to 3.8 percent.

Year-over-year wages grew by 2.7 percent. Hicks, the director of the Ball State Center for Business and Economic Research, says increase in wages is slightly greater than inflation, which suggests a continuation of modest real wage growth for 2018.

Additionally, the number of involuntary part-time workers continued to decrease. Hicks adds, "for the first time in memory there were not industry sector declines."