WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added 850,000 jobs in June, according to the nonfarm payroll employment report released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected a gain of approximately 706,000 jobs. The BLS also revised the May job gains upward from 559,000 to 583,000. In April, the job gains were revised up from 266,000 to 269,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate increased from 5.8 percent in May to 5.9 percent in June, which was higher than the 5.6 percent predicted by economists. Additionally, state governments during June added 69,000 jobs while local governments added 124,000, according to CNS news.
The BLS reported that the amount of people who quit their jobs rose by 164,000 to 942,000 last month. CNBC states that the labor force participation rate was unchanged at 61.6 percent. Also, the amount of people who lost their jobs did not change much in June and stayed the same at 3.2 million. While nonfarm payroll employment is up by 15.6 million since April 2020, it is down by 6.8 million, or 4.4 percent, from its pre-pandemic level in February 2020, according to BLS.
With little to no pandemic restrictions left on businesses, the hospitality industry saw a gain of 340,000 jobs in June. There was also a gain of 194,000 jobs in bars and restaurants. However, the hospitality industry is still 2.2 million jobs away from what it was pre-pandemic in February 2020, according to CNBC.
The total job gains in the education sector were 269,000 across state, local and private education. The professional and business services segment added 72,000 jobs, while the retail sector added 67,000 jobs.
There were other job gains in sectors such as personal and laundry services, which saw an increase of 29,000 jobs, and social assistance, which added 32,000 jobs. The mining industry saw an increase of 10,000 jobs as well.
The construction industry lost 7,000 jobs, and CNBC attributes the loss of jobs to high lumber prices that has affected the construction industry.