Job gains and economic growth continue at a healthy pace. 274,000 new payroll jobs were created last month and the unemployment rate stayed at 5.2%. Twenty-three consecutive months of job gains have added almost 3.5 million new jobs to payrolls. The gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a healthy 3.1% annualized rate in the 1st quarter, an easing from 3.8% growth in the 4th quarter of 2004. Inflation remains tame, but has crept up over the past year, partly because of escalating energy prices. In light of healthy growth and slight increases in inflation, the Federal Reserve increased overnight interest rates last week. Forecasters see continued low inflation and robust economic growth throughout this year.