May 5 Reuters A critical flow of data heading to the Federal Reserve39;s June meeting, and a possible rate hike pause, began Friday with a strongerthananticipated jobs report showing U.S. payrolls and wage growth remain resilient.

Data showing the economy added 253,000 jobs in April, with hourly wages growing at a 4.4 annual rate, are just the first in a series of reports, including fresh information on prices beginning next week, that the Fed will receive before the June 1314 meeting. The report did not in itself change broad market expectations that the Fed next month will hold the policy rate steady in a 5 to 5.25 range.

But it does show an economy that continues to surprise.

Job growth is trending down, with threemonth average payroll gains now at 222,000 versus more than half a million at the start of 2022.

That will encourage monetary policymakers that the labor market continues to shift into a better balance, said Nick Bunker, head of economic research at the Indeed Hiring Lab.

But the April jobs report also shows how sticky many of the economic variables the Fed is watching have become. Wage gains are moving sideways, for example, at a level central bankers feel is ultimately inconsistent with falling inflation.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell this week was pointed in saying he did not think current wage increases were necessarily causing higher prices, noting the two tend to move together in ways that are hard to disentangle. Yet a productivity report this week…