Unemployment rate remains at 49-year low of 3.6%

The numbers: The U.S. created just 75,000 new jobs in May and employment gains earlier in the spring were scaled back, a worrisome turn that points to a slowing economy and is likely to put more pressure on the Federal Reserve to cutinterest rates.

The meager gains in May fell far short of the 185,000 MarketWatch forecast, but stocks rose early in Friday trades on the assumption that the central bank might act soon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.14% jumped 200 points and the S&P 500 SPX, +1.24% also rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury yieldTMUBMUSD10Y, -2.00% fell to a 21-month low of 2.06%.

Hiring slackened off in almost every key segment of the economy and employment fell in retail and government. The pace of wage growth over the past year also slowed.

The news was not all bad. The unemployment rate clung to a 49-year low of 3.6% and a broader measure of joblessness that includes part-time workers, known as U6, dipped to the lowest level in 19 years.