The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that U.S. employers added 57,000 jobs in June, with gains reported in professional and business services, and private education and health services. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.2%.
The labor force participation rate decreased by 0.3% to 61.5%, while the employment-population ratio edged down slightly to 59.0%.
In June, employment trended up in BLS sectors including construction (+11,000), manufacturing (+3,000), government (+6,000), and private education and health services (+69,000).
Employment trended down in sectors including leisure and hospitality (-61,000), retail trade (-7,500), and information (-9,000).
The professional and business services sector as a whole saw employment rise by 36,000 in June. Here’s how that broke down by subsector:
- Legal services (+5,100)
- Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services (+2,700)
- Computer systems design and related services (+4,300)
- Management, scientific, and technical consulting services (+7,300)
- Administrative and support services (+21,200)
Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 13 cents over the month, to $37.64. On a year-over-year basis, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.5%.
In addition to June’s numbers, the BLS revised reported employment from April to May in this month’s report. The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for April was revised down by 31,000, from +179,000 to +148,000, and the change for May was revised down by 43,000, from +172,000 to +129,000.
Jobs Report Marks Fourth Straight Month of Gains
June’s gain was not quite what economists expected, according to CNBC. The Dow Jones consensus forecast projected 115,000 jobs gained in the month of June.
However, 57,000 jobs added was good enough to mark four straight months of payroll gains.
Indeed Director of Economic Research Laura Ullrich described June’s jobs report like this: “There is a moment between an incoming and an outgoing tide when the water hardly moves in either direction – known as slack water. That is a fair description of the labor market right now. Relatively few workers are being pulled into new jobs, and few are being pushed out of old ones.”
Ullrich emphasized that change was likely to come at some point in the near future because the tide “always, eventually, turns.”
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