Key takeaways:
- Payroll growth nearly stalled: BLS reported nonfarm payrolls rose by just 57,000 in June, while April and May were revised down a combined 74,000, erasing much of the spring’s apparent momentum.
- Temp help rebounded, but May’s reported gain didn’t hold: Temporary help services added 9,300 jobs in June. But a revision turned May’s initially reported gain of 1,400 into a loss of 500.
- Private hiring cooled from May’s pace: ADP reported 98,000 private-sector jobs added in June, down from May’s 122,000, with education and health services driving nearly half the total.
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 57,000 jobs in June, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That’s a step down from what looked like a stronger spring. April’s gain was revised down from 179,000 to 148,000. May’s was cut from 172,000 to 129,000. Combined, that’s 74,000 fewer jobs than previously reported. The unemployment rate held at 4.2%.
Professional and business services led June’s growth, adding 36,000 jobs and extending a recovery that’s now added 172,000 positions since bottoming out in October 2025. Social assistance added 25,000 jobs, almost entirely in individual and family services (+17,000). Health care grew by 22,000, slower than its 12-month average of 38,000.
Meanwhile, leisure and hospitality lost 61,000 jobs on weaker than usual seasonal hiring, and the industry has shown almost no net growth so far in 2026. Mining, construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, other services, and government all showed little or no change.
Temporary help services rebounds, but May’s reported gain backtracked
Temporary help services added 9,300 jobs in June, according to BLS, bouncing back after a revision wiped out what had briefly looked like a third straight month of growth. May’s initially reported gain of 1,400 jobs is now a loss of 500. And April’s gain was revised up again, from 8,700 to 10,500.
The sector employs 2,499,200 people on a seasonally adjusted basis, still below the 2,504,600 level from June 2025. June’s bounce is a good sign, but the revised numbers are the ones that hold up, and they tell a choppier story than last month’s read suggested.
Other highlights from the June BLS report include:
- The labor force participation rate dropped 0.3 points to 61.5%, and the employment-population ratio slipped to 59.0%.
- Long-term unemployment (27 weeks or more) held at 1.9 million but is up 286,000 over the year, now 27.3% of all unemployed people.
- The number of people employed part time for economic reasons was little changed at 4.7 million.
- Average hourly earnings rose 13 cents (0.3%) to $37.64, up 3.5% over the past 12 months.
- The average workweek held at 34.3 hours; manufacturing’s workweek edged down to 40.3 hours while overtime rose to 3.2 hours.
- Unemployment rates showed little change across major groups: adult men (3.9%), adult women (3.7%), teenagers (14.6%), White (3.6%), Black (6.6%), Asian (3.9%), and Hispanic (5.2%) workers.
Private sector adds 98,000 jobs in June
ADP’s National Employment Report showed private employers added 98,000 jobs in June, down from May’s 122,000. Hiring was uneven across sectors. “The pace of hiring is telling a story of both supply and demand,” said Dr. Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist. She added that it’s taking people longer to find work, with certain industries facing labor supply constraints, and that the combined effect is a slower pace of job creation.
Education and health services led all sectors with 48,000 jobs added. Financial activities added 14,000, and trade, transportation, and utilities added 15,000. Manufacturing added 5,000. Professional and business services and leisure and hospitality each added just 2,000, with leisure and hospitality now on its sixth straight month of weak hiring.
Job-stayer pay growth held at 4.4% year-over-year. Job-changer pay growth rose to 6.6%, up from May’s 6.5%. Small establishments (1 to 19 employees) accounted for 38,000 of June’s gains.
