Through the European debt crisis, the slowdown in the Chinese economy, and the collapse of the oil market, US employers kept adding jobs at a brisk pace of about 200,000 new positions on average each month.

But economists say that after a five-year run, that phase of the US economic recovery is winding down.

Welcome to the new normal.

“We are transitioning into a slower pace of growth,’’ said Greg McBride, the chief analyst with Bankrate.com, a consumer financial website.

Meager job gains — even as inflation remains low, wage increases modest, and millions are unemployed or underemployed — are forcing policy makers to move more slowly.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve, over concerns about the marked slowdown in job creation in recent months, declined to raise a key short-term interest rate that it dropped to near zero after the financial crisis. The upcoming vote in Great Britain over whether to leave the European Union, and its potential effect on the US economy, also weighed heavily on the central bankers.

Members of the Fed still expect two interest rate increases this year, following the quarter-point raise they put in place last December, but they have reduced the number of increases in the coming years. They now expect the rate to rise from currently under one-half of 1 percent to 2.4 percent by the end of 2018, compared to projections in March of 3 percent by the end of 2018.

“The labor market appears to have slowed down and we need to assure ourselves that the underlying momentum in the economy has not diminished,’’ said Janet Yellen, chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, during a Wednesday press conference.

According to the US Department of Labor, employers added only 38,000 jobs in May, a figure that was likely dampened by a Verizon strike that has now ended. But job creation figures in March and April were also revised lower by 58,000, with the average job gains so far this year dropping to 150,000 a month.

The global economic slowdown, which has meant softer demand for US goods abroad, and low productivity by workers may be curbing job growth. For the first quarter of 2016, worker productivity increased by just 0.7 percent, compared to the same period last year, and has been lower than historic levels of about 2.2 percent since the start of the recession.

The reasons for lower productivity remain unclear, but some economists have suggested that new technologies have done less to improve efficiencies than past innovations, such as air conditioning. Others have pointed to the slower pace of new companies launching and workers moving from jobs as factors. Ultimately that may mean that companies are pulling back on hiring, said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist from IHS Inc., a forecasting firm in Lexington.

Instead, they may be trying to squeeze more out of their existing workforce, he said.

“What we’re probably going to see is a hiatus of a few months, before things pick up a little bit,’’ Behravesh said.

But economists said a natural decline in job gains, although not to the extent that it dropped in May, is expected as the economy improves.

As the unemployment rate nears about 4.5 percent, considered by economists to be full employment, the labor market is going to tighten and make it harder for companies to find workers, said Megan Greene, chief economist for John Hancock Financial.

The unemployment rate in May dropped to 4.7 percent.

“We can’t expect to be adding 200,000 jobs a month,’’ Green said. “There’s a structural shift. Does this mean that the job market is in bad shape? No.’’

In addition, the workforce is likely shrinking as baby boomers approach retirement and drop out of the labor market, Greene said.

Jerry Rubin, the president of Jewish Vocational Service, a nonprofit that connects workers with employers, said some job seekers are seeing the benefits of a tightening labor market. More employers, especially in the restaurant, hotel, and health care services fields, are scheduling recruitment sessions, eager to fill positions.

“The level of hiring and the interest in hiring, it’s about the highest we’ve seen,’’ Rubin said.

Yellen and some economists see signs that the labor market remains healthy, despite May’s drastic drop in job creation.

Unemployment claims are still low, job openings were at a nine-month high in April with 5.8 million positions available, and wages are increasing at a slightly higher pace than before, suggesting that companies are having to compete for labor.

But economists and central bankers still want to see employers add more jobs than they did in April and May.

“Over time, we should expect to see, as the economy comes closer to maximum employment, the likely pace of job gains is probably going to slow down somewhat,’’ Yellen said. “And we have seen some slowing, but the recent couple of months was very low and arguably not even at the pace we need to see to maintain stable labor market conditions.’’

Deirdre Fernandes can be reached at deirdre.fernandes@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @fernandesglobe.