The month of June revealed another strong month in the labor market. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 224,000, which was 59,000 above economists’ predictions. This is the best job gain since the beginning of 2019. The unemployment rate ticked up slightly at 3.7 percent, with a total of 6 million unemployed in June. The small shift in the unemployment rate paired with the tremendous increase in employment for the month of June indicates that great candidates are re-entering the labor market.
In addition, wages rose by 6 cents at $27.09. Over the last year, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.1 percent. With wages experiencing a subtle rise, the average workweek remains unchanged at 34.4 hours per week. The stock market opened lower, resulting in a cut in interest rates.
Jobs Report By Industry:
Areas of increased job opportunities emerged in business and professional services (+51,000 jobs), health care (+35,000 jobs), transportation and warehousing (+24,000 jobs) and construction (+21,000 jobs).
Business and professional services are currently leading the job market. Compared to the average monthly gain in 2018 of 47,000, proving that June was a huge month for this industry – adding 51,000 jobs.
Employment within the healthcare industry increased by 35,000 in the month of June and 403,000 over the last year. Specific areas of growth include ambulatory healthcare services (+19,000 jobs) and hospitals (+11,000 jobs).
Last month, the transportation and warehousing industry experienced job growth of 24,000 with 7,000 in couriers and messengers and 3,000 air transportation.
Additionally, construction employment continues to grow with another increase of 12,000 jobs.
Revisions:
Total nonfarm payroll in April and May were 11,000 less than originally reported. Specifically, the total nonfarm payroll employment for April was revised from 224,000 to 216,000 and May was revised from 75,000 to 72,000 gain. Overall the net job gain averaged around 171,000 per month over the last three months.
