Nonfarm payroll employment added 206,000 jobs in June, according to the latest BLS jobs report, following an increase of 218,000 jobs in May (downward revision). June’s increase is close to the 12-month average monthly gain of 220,000.
Jobs increased in government (+70,000) health care (+49,000), and social assistance (+34,000) in June. However, jobs continued to decline in temporary help services with the loss of 49,000 jobs over the month. Compared to its peak in March 2022, temp help is down by 515,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate inched up to 4.1% in June, with 6.8 million people unemployed. This is notably above last year’s measures of 3.6% and 6.0 million, respectively. The labor force participation rate was little changed at 62.6%.
