June Jobs Gain Lowest Since December 2020

The unemployment situation changed little in June as the United States added 209,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate stood at 3.6% — within the 3.4% to 3.7% range it has been in since March 2022 — and the number of unemployed persons was little changed at 6 million, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said in a Friday (July 7) press release.

The June jobs gain was the lowest seen since the decline reported in December 2020, CNN reported Friday. The report added that the total was down from the 306,000 jobs added in May and was below economists’ expectations for a gain of 225,000 jobs.

“The June jobs report was full of mixed signals,” National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long said in a statement emailed to PYMNTS. “Job growth fell to its slowest pace since 2020, and downward revisions shaved over 100,000 jobs from prior estimates. But wage growth held firm at 0.4%, which will worry Fed officials. A rate hike later this month is almost assured, and at least one additional hike after that is highly likely.”

Over the first six months of the year, nonfarm employment has grown by an average of 278,000 per month — lower than 2022’s average of 399,000 per month, according to the BLS release.

Among the jobs that were added in June, the biggest gains were seen in government, healthcare, social assistance and construction, the release said.

Government employment accounted for 60,000 of the jobs added during the month, continuing a trend that has seen this sector grow at more than twice the rate it grew last year.

Healthcare added 41,000 jobs, growing at a rate similar to that of last year.

Social assistance, too, grew at a rate similar to last year, adding 24,000 jobs in June.

Construction employment grew by 23,000 jobs, higher than the monthly average of 15,000 seen so far this year and the average of 22,000 seen in 2022.

Other major sectors saw little change in employment in June, according to the report.

PYMNTS reported June 30 that job growth has been especially strong in the South, with that region accounting for two-thirds of the country’s job gains.