US Job Growth Slows to 130k Amid Trump's Uncertain Economic Policy

The American job market likely continued to slow last month, hobbled by worries over President Donald Trump's trade wars, deportations, and purges of the federal workforce.

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The Labor Department's numbers on May hiring Friday are expected to show that businesses, government agencies, and nonprofits added 130,000 jobs last month. That would be down from 177,000 in April but enough to stay ahead of people entering the workforce and keep the unemployment rate at a low 4.2 percent, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.

Mainstream economists expect Trump's policies to take a toll on America's economy, the world's largest. His massive taxes on imports—tariffs—are expected to raise costs for US companies that buy raw materials, equipment, and components from overseas and force them to cut back hiring or even lay workers off.