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By Kristin Myers, Editor-in-Chief

What's Happening Today

Good morning! It's Kristin with your daily morning digest.

This morning we got a glimpse of the national employment picture as jobs in the private sector increased by 247,000 in the month of April, down from March's rise of 479,000 according to the payroll provider ADP's National Employment Report. While ADP's report and the Labor Department's report, which will be released on Friday, don't always mirror each other, the ADP figures do serve as a leading indicator of labor market trends.

The numbers in ADP's report came in below estimates, and significantly below March's figures, indicating hiring might be slowing in the U.S. amid a national labor shortage—there was a record 11.5 million job openings last month. The labor market's strength supports the Federal Reserve's case to raise interest rates as it tries to rein in red hot inflation.

This afternoon, the Fed will release its decision on those rate hikes, and it's widely expected that policymakers will increase the fed funds rate by half a percentage point. While U.S. consumers, who have been paying more for just about everything from groceries to transportation, could use relief from rising prices, a rate hike will make borrowing money more expensive and investors could seen an impact to their portfolio as higher interest rates reduce corporate profits, especially for high growth tech companies.

Be sure to tune in to our Instagram Live today at 12 noon Eastern. I'm talking with Teri Ijeoma, founder of financial course "Trade and Travel." Teri is a former school principal turned multimillionaire, and we'll be chatting about how to enjoy your wealth. It's our last conversation as part of The Balance's Financial Literacy Month Instagram Live series. To catch this talk, follow The Balance on Instagram now!

- Kristin

Editors' Picks

Private Sector Has Slowest Hiring Month of Pandemic Era (The Balance)

Earning the Federal Minimum Wage Is Worth 17% Less Now (The Balance)

Shanghai Lockdown Reignites Supply-Chain Problems for US Companies (The Wall Street Journal)

Abortion Rollback Risks Erasing Decades of Economic Gains for US Women (Bloomberg)

Biden Hints at $125,000 Income Limit for Student Loan Forgiveness, Here's Why (Forbes)

What Are the Benefits of Being a First-Time Homebuyer? (The Balance)

How To Calculate the Expected Rate of Return on a Roth IRA (The Balance)

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Off the Charts

Thanks to inflation, U.S. workers earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour have seen the value of that pay rate decline by about 17% since 2009 (the last time the federal minimum wage was raised), according to The Balance's analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Census Bureau. And while many states have increased their minimum wage significantly over the last decade, 20 states still use the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour as their own.

Number of the Day

1.9 - That's how many job openings there are for every unemployed person—a record ratio and a clear sign that workers have the upper hand over employers right now.

For The Balance's fourth Financial Literacy Month IG live series, we're discussing the topic of wealth and its enjoyment. Join The Balance Editor-in-Chief Kristin Myers with featured guest Teri Ijeoma, master investor and founder of Trade and Travel, on Wednesday, May 4, at 12 p.m. EST. Follow us on Instagram to get updates on The Balance's live events this month!