US shares hit record high on jobs boom

THE American stock market hit an all-time closing high last night after unemployment reached its lowest level for a decade.

The S&P 500 Index closed up 0.4pc, or 9.77 points, at 2399.3, spurred on by a hiring boom under Donald Trump.

Official figures showed the jobless rate dropped from 4.5pc to 4.4pc last month – its lowest level since May 2007 before the financial crisis struck. That compares with unemployment of 4.7pc in the UK and a worryingly high 9.5pc in the eurozone.

The latest fall in unemployment in the US came as American companies created another 211,000 jobs in April – well above the 79,000 created in March.

Job gains were driven by a surge in hiring in the leisure and hospitality sector as well as business and professional services.

Analysts said the upbeat figures paved the way for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in the US again next month.

Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors in New York, said: ‘I think we’re going to see a June or July hike, and then another in the fall.’