WASHINGTON — The U.S. June employment report was on the weak side of expectations but still suggests a robust economy, and low unemployment claims suggest this outlook has continued into July.
Payrolls posted a 223,000 increase in June but the May-April revisions totaled a 60,000 reduction, mainly in schools. There also is a historical tendency for June jobs to get revised lower in subsequent reports.
The unemployment rate fell a large 0.2 point to 5.3%. But the size of the labor force and the participation rate fell (the latter slid 0.3 point to 62.6%). The Bureau of Labor Statistics noted large moves in June, probably due to the jobs churn created by graduations and late school closings this year after make-up time for the severe winter, and said to deemphasize this.
The decline in the labor force was in the massive June seasonal adjustments — unadjusted the labor force was up 564,000.
Average hourly earnings were a surprise at flat for a 2.0% gain over the year. This reflects in part the fact that higher paid industries created fewer jobs during the month.
Hours rose, so production should be higher in upcoming reports.
Jobs composition included: manufacturing up 4,000, construction flat, retail up 32,900, finance up 20,000, temporary help up 19,800, leisure up 22,000, healthcare up 40,100, and government flat.
Overall, the jobs report still shows good economic growth. This marks a 12-month average growth rate in jobs of 250,000, a fairly remarkable performance for the U.S. economy.
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