WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy added nearly a quarter-million jobs during June, bouncing back from weak numbers one month prior and perhaps causing the Fed to pause any potential rate cuts.
According to the Labor Department, nonfarm payroll jobs rose by 224,000 jobs during June, much stronger than many economists had been predicting. The jobless rate, however, ticked up from its a 50-year low to 3.7% in part due to more people entering the job force and looking for work. For workers, other good news included that wages were up 3.1% from one year earlier, with average hourly wages at $27.90.
As CUToday.info reported earlier, many had raised concerns, including over a pending recession, after the U.S. added just 72,000 jobs during May, after averaging 223,000 per month. The new numbers allay some of those concerns.
Employers have added jobs for 105 straight months, by far the longest streak of job creation on record, noted the Wall Street Journal.
Health Care is Healthy
The new federal numbers show June hiring was led by a strong gain in the health-care sector, which added 50,500 jobs, and in transportation and warehousing. Manufacturing employment, which had been soft much of the year, gained 17,000 jobs last month. Construction firms added 21,000 employees. Retailers cut jobs.
Employment at all levels of government rose by 33,000 last month. It was the biggest increase in public-sector employment since August 2018, the government reported.
The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) is next scheduled to meet July 30-31, where they will consider whether to make any changes to the short-term benchmark rate, currently at a range of 2.25% to 2.5% this year.
‘More Cautious’
“The June rebound in hiring might make some policy makers more cautious about calling for a rate cut in July, but the report doesn’t take the possibility off the table,” the Journal analysis noted. “The Fed is monitoring a slowdown in the global economy and has its eye on lackluster inflation in the U.S. Friday’s data showed even in a tight labor market, wages are no longer accelerating.”
The Journal added that a broader measure of unemployment and underemployment, which includes not looking for work, plus Americans stuck in part-time jobs but who want to work full-time, rose to 7.2% in June from 7.1% in May.