Employers added 147,000 jobs in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday, beating expectations, while the unemployment rate dipped one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.1%.
The gains include 200 jobs in accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services. Many of the job increases happened in state government and health care, but the federal government continued to lose jobs.
State government employment increased by 47,000, mostly in the education sector, which added 40,000 jobs. Employment in local government education continued to trend upward, adding 23,000 jobs. However, job losses continued in the federal government, with a decrease of 7,000 jobs. Federal government employment is down by 69,000 since the Trump administration initiated cutbacks after reaching a recent peak in January.
Average hourly earnings rose by 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $36.30 in June. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased 3.7%.
Despite the positive report, hiring for small businesses decreased by 0.43% month over month in June following a sharp increase in May.
The BLS revised upward the past two months of job numbers. The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for April was revised up by 11,000, from a gain of 147,000 to 158,000 jobs, and the change for May was revised up by 5,000, from a gain of 139,000 to 144,000 jobs. With both revisions, employment in April and May combined is 16,000 higher than previously reported
“June gains were oddly strong for local education, while health care and restaurants continued to lead in growth,” said Appcast chief economist Andrew Flowers in a statement. “The U.S. added 147,000 jobs in June, which exceeded consensus estimates for 125,000. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1%. And the prior two months’ growth numbers were revised up. All of that is good news. However, a strong gain of 40,000 jobs in state and local education — which is strange as it is June, a month when schools are wrapping up for the summer break — singlehandedly pushed payroll gains above expectations. This might be due to some seasonal adjustment issues with how many teachers are on local government payrolls. Stripping government jobs out, private payrolls gained just 74,000, which brought the three-month moving average down from 128,000 to 115,000. Assuming the breakeven rate of job growth is around 80K a month, this jobs report indicates an overall steady labor market.”
The jobs report came as the House convened to pass Republicans’ sprawling tax bill after President Trump pressured recalcitrant GOP holdouts to overcome their objections ahead of a self-imposed July 4 deadline. Democrats could do little, but House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, gave a marathon speech on Thursday to delay passage of the bill, which he called the “one big ugly bill,” decrying the extensive cutbacks in Medicaid and nutrition assistance for the poor.
