WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added 224,000 new jobs to nonfarm payrolls in June, exceeding economists’ expectations and building on last month’s total of 72,000, according to the monthly report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The job growth figure for May was revised down by 3,000 positions from 75,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate ticked up 10 basis points to 3.7 percent, but the overall rate of job growth suggests the economy still has some gas in the tank as the expansion approaches the 10-year mark. In addition, the economy has now experienced 121 consecutive months of positive job growth and is averaging about 172,000 jobs per year in 2019, compared with 47,000 per month in 2018.
Growth was balanced between industries, with strong gains in key sectors. Professional and technical services (51,000), transportation and warehousing (24,000), healthcare (35,000) and manufacturing (17,000) were among the industries that saw positive growth from the previous month.
Average earnings across nonfarm payrolls rose by 6 cents during June after increasing by 9 cents in May. The labor force participation rate was unchanged for the month and year at 62.9 percent.
— Taylor Williams