 President Trump listens in a meeting at the White House on March. 27. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) By Ana Swanson President Trump came into office promising an economic boom fueled by infrastructure spending, health care reform and tax cuts. But nearly five months later, the excitement over the president's plans has given way to unease, with recent data sounding a note of caution about just how long the economy's current expansion will run. On Friday morning, federal economists reported that U.S. job growth came in below expectations in May, with employers adding just 138,000 jobs in the month, below the average monthly gains of 180,000 in the past year. New revisions to the data of the past two months also removed 66,000 jobs from the rolls. Wage growth remained sluggish in May. The unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent, the lowest it has been in more than 16 years, but it dipped for what economists described as the "wrong reasons" — a contraction in the labor force. The unemployment rate measures only those who are actively looking for work but can't find it, so it may decline when people stop looking for work. One negative reading does not constitute a trend, and economists caution that the economy generally remains healthy more than 96 months into the current economic expansion. Market response to the May jobs report was muted Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average up 62 points. But there are reasons for caution. Read the rest on Wonkblog.
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