US Hiring Remains Solid, Jobless Rate Dips Slightly 

U.S. employers added 147,000 jobs in June, mostly in the public sector, and the national unemployment rate dipped slightly to 4.1%, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. 

The pace of hiring was in line with the monthly average over the last 12 months (+146,000). State and local government (+73,000) and the healthcare sector (+39,000) registered the largest gains. Some of the largest job losses occurred in manufacturing (-7,000), business and professional services (-7,500) and the federal government (-7,000). 

So far 69,000 federal jobs have been lost since January, and that number is expected to increase because fired federal workers now receiving severance pay are not yet counted among the unemployed. 

The 4.1% national unemployment rate for June is slightly lower than the 4.2% rate reported in May.  

In healthcare, the pace of hiring (+39,000) was in line with the average monthly gain of 43,000 during the prior 12 months. The largest gains occurred in hospitals (+16,000) and nursing and residential care facilities (+14,000).   

In June, social assistance employment continued to trend upward (+19,400), reflecting continued growth in individual and family services (+15,600). The leisure and hospitality industry gained 20,000 jobs in June, and the construction industry gained 15,000 jobs. 

The June report also revised upward the preliminary data reported for April and June.  The April jobs number increased from 147,000 to 158,000. For May, the number of jobs increased from 139,000 to 144,000. With these revisions, employment in April and May was 16,000 higher than originally reported. 

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 8 cents, or 0.2% to $36.30 in June. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased 3.7%. 

On Wall Street, markets rallied after the stronger-than-expected June jobs report. Bond yields rose on a strengthening dollar as expectations for interest rate cuts declined.

Article sourced from NJBIA.