Shares are rallying in New York in early trading.

The Dow Jones industrial average, of 30 large US companies, has jumped by 351 points or 1.1% at 33,413.

The broader S&P 500 is also 1% higher, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite has jumped by 1.1% to its highest level since April 2022.

Simon Harvey, Head of FX Analysis at Monex Europe, says:

A monstrous 339k jobs were added in May, up from an upwardly revised 294k in April. This net employment increase is the largest since January’s whopping 472k figure, which sparked markets to price in a higher terminal rate for the Fed – a contributing to the start of the regional banking crisis just a month later.

Although, despite the recent uptick in the pace of employment, it is worth noting May’s gains are in line with the series +341k twelve-month average. While the net employment figure suggests that labour demand is yet to come off the boil, the rest of May’s jobs report was on the soft side, leaving the market-implied odds of a rate hike from the Fed in June relatively low.

Richard Flynn, managing director at Charles Schwab UK, says:

“Investors will interpret today’s strong jobs report as a sign that the US labour market is still very tight. The figures underscore the success of the US economy in getting workers back into the workforce.

Amid myriad concerns for investors this year, the labour market remains in focus given its strength as it continues to outpace economists’ estimates

Although US job creation accelerated last month, wage growth cooled in May.

Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.3%, today’s non-farm payroll shows. That’s down from 4.4% in the year to April.

It’s also below the US CPI inflation rate, which rose by 4.9% in the year to April.

In May along, average hourly earnings rose by 11 cents, or 0.3%, to $33.44.

Newsflash: the US economy added 339,000 jobs last month, a stronger increase than expected, despite the impact of higher interest rates.

Economists had expected around 190,000 new jobs, but instead hiring has accelerated – in a potential boost to president Joe Biden, but a new headache for US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell as he tries to cool inflation.

Job gains occurred in professional and business services, government, health care, construction, transportation and warehousing, and social assistance, according to the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

March’s Non-Farm Payroll has been revised higher too, by 52,000, from +165,000 to +217,000. April’s data has been revised up by 41,000, from +253,000 to +294,000.

However, the US unemployment rate has risen by 0.3% to 3.7%. The number of unemployed people rose by 440,000 to 6.1 million – with more people out of work and looking for a job.

Fiat has called on the government to boost incentives for British motorists to buy electric vehicles, after warning that growth in UK sales of the vehicles has tailed off after a key subsidy was scrapped last year.

Writing in an open letter to the government, the car manufacturer said other countries around the world were providing more support for the transition to electric vehicles and argued more action was required in Britain.

It comes a year after ministers scrapped the last remaining subsidies for electric cars, saying it would free up funds to expand the charging network and support other battery-powered vehicles.

However, car manufacturers warned this week of a gulf between the number of electric vehicles on the road and public charging points, with the shortfall more than doubling in some parts of the country in the past year….

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Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is set to lay off up to 200 employees, as the British retailer looks to streamline its business after making a string of acquisitions in recent years, Reuters reports.

A spokesperson for the company, which was previously called Sports Direct, said in an e-mail.

“We are reviewing our team structures to identify efficiencies and streamline processes, and we have entered a consultation period with colleagues affected by these changes,”

The job cuts were first reported by the Sun last week.

Ashley – who once owned the Newcastle United football club – no longer heads Frasers but holds a roughly 70% stake in the company, which owns brands including House of Fraser, Flannels, USC and Jack Wills.

Earlier this week Frasers narrowly avoided falling out of the blue-chip FTSE 100 index in the latest reshuffle.