The United States economy added 57,000 jobs in June, marking a slowdown in economic growth following several months of steady gains, according to the monthly employment report released Thursday by the US Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The report also revised down numbers for the previous two months: May's job gains were lowered from 172,000 to 129,000, and April's figure was cut by 31,000 to 148,000 jobs.
June job gains were concentrated in a handful of sectors. Professional and business services added 36,000 jobs; healthcare added 22,000; and social assistance added 25,000 jobs.
Other sectors, including mining, oil and gas extraction; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation and warehousing; and financial activities, remained stagnant.
Leisure and hospitality employment lost 61,000 jobs before the normally busy summer season, which was expected to be bolstered by an influx of World Cup-driven tourism. Goldman Sachs had forecast that the tournament would add 40,000 jobs in June.
The unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point, from 4.3% to 4.2%. The broader U-6 unemployment rate, which includes discouraged workers, those marginally attached to the labor force, and those working part-time for economic reasons, fell from 8.1% to 7.9%.
However, labor force participation dropped by 0.3 percentage points to 61.5%, reaching its lowest level since March 2021.
The latest figures follow other economic reports this week showing the stability of the US labor market. The ADP private payroll report showed 98,000 jobs added for the month, while the Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey was unchanged, suggesting that people who have jobs are not leaving for new ones.
“The pace of hiring is telling a story of both supply and demand. We know it’s taking people longer to find work, but there also are signs of labor supply constraints in certain industries,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. “For now, the overall effect is a slowdown in job creation.”
Americans are becoming discouraged from job searching. On Tuesday, the Conference Board survey on consumer confidence showed that the share of people saying jobs are “hard to get” jumped by 22.5%.
Despite the weaker-than-expected jobs report, US markets are trending upwards. Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 jumped 0.6% since the market opened, and the Dow is up by 0.8%.
Gold, which is generally considered a safe investment in times of economic uncertainty, jumped 2% on the heels of the report as the data indicated the US Federal Reserve may not hike interest rates in the near future.
Source: www.aljazeera.com