United States: Job gains beat expectations again in June
Total non-farm payrolls grew by 206,000 in June, down from 218,000 in May but slightly overshooting market expectations. Job gains occurred in government, health care, social assistance, and construction. The unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in June from 4.0% in May.
All in all, the latest figures suggest that the labor market cooled somewhat in Q2, as average payroll growth in the quarter was softer than in past periods. However, the labor market remained robust, which should have underpinned private spending in the quarter.
On the latest labor market data, TD Economics’ Andrew Foran said:
“Payroll growth remained solid in June, but sizeable revisions to the prior two months reduced the gain in the second quarter to 607k, marking a four-year low. This cooling is consistent with other labor market metrics which have shown that the hiring rate, quit rate, and job opening to unemployed ratio are all at or below their pre-pandemic levels. Softening fundamentals have now pushed the unemployment rate to a new cycle high of 4.1%, which outside of the pandemic has not been seen since early 2018.”