The U.S. economy is expanding faster than it did earlier in the year, but a jolt out of the blue from a weak jobs report in May calls into question whether the pickup in growth can last.

The number of new jobs created last month totaled just 38,000, the smallest gain since 2010. Even if a major strike at Verizon that kept almost 40,000 people out of work is set aside, hiring was unusually soft.

The U.S. had been averaging more than 200,000 new jobs a month since 2014 until a recent slowdown since March that’ seen hiring taper off to a 116,000 range. That’s the worst three-month stretch in four years.

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Some economists are skeptical that employment softened as much in May as the jobs report suggests, viewing it as a one-off event. “This report likely overstates labor market weakness,” said Greg Daco of Oxford Economics.

Still, almost everyone acknowledges companies are not hiring as fast as they did in the past few years.

What next, then? Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen is set to deliver a major speech on Monday in which most observers believe she will scale back expectations for an increase in interest rates this summer. Before the May jobs report, Wall Street was penciling in a rate increase by July.

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A light calendar this week of back-bench economic indicators is unlikely to alter the picture. The government will report job openings for April, but two-month old data is hardly telling.

Initial jobless claims, meanwhile, has been falling the past few weeks. If the jobs market is really starting to falter, claims would almost certainly rise from current low levels.

Before companies resort to increased layoffs, they’d have to suffer a decline in demand for their goods and services. So far that really hasn’t happened outside of a manufacturing sector that’s become a lot smaller portion of the U.S. economy.

Consumer spending has increased early in the second quarter and put the U.S. on track to grow about 2.5%, according to economists surveyed by MarketWatch. The economy grew at a tepid 0.8% pace in the first quarter.

A big wild card in the months ahead is how companies resort to a squeeze on profits. One option is to save by further cutting back on long-term investments. Better to do that if the economy turns south than sink a lot of cash into a project that won't pay off for years.

Although such an approach is self-defeating in the long run, it’s better for workers now. Companies have made the choice to hire more people or keep more workers on hand to meet demand because labor is relatively cheap.

The flip side is that companies might be quick to halt hiring at the first hint of trouble. “Employers are defending profits in a soggy growth environment by managing payroll costs,” asserted Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight.

He believes job creation will be sluggish for at least a few more months until companies get a better handle on how the U.S. economy is performing.