The economy added 227,000 new jobs last month while the unemployment rate stayed at 4.2%

KEY STAT

$35.61. That was the average hourly earnings of all private nonfarm employees in the U.S., a new record high. Average pay is up 4% over the last 12 months, greater than the sub 3% annual inflation rate by the two most commonly cited measures, though inflation has still outpaced wage increases over the last four years in aggregate.