Washington: US employers added more jobs in June than forecast and the unemployment rate held near a five-decade low, suggesting hiring needs are so far eclipsing concerns about the economic outlook.
Nonfarm payrolls rose 372,000 last month following a revised 384,000 in May, a Labor Department report showed Friday. The unemployment rate held at 3.6 per cent and average hourly earnings rose 0.3 per cent from a month earlier.
The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 265,000 advance in payrolls and for the unemployment rate to hold at 3.6 per cent.
Another solid month of employment growth further highlights the stark contrast between the resilience of the jobs market and an otherwise bleaker economic picture. The drumbeat of a recession is growing louder, and decades-high inflation is eroding Americans’ paychecks and weighing on consumer spending.
While a number of companies did announce plans in June to cut staffing levels, layoffs have so far been largely concentrated in technology and interest-rate sensitive sectors like housing as the Federal Reserve aggressively raises borrowing costs to curb inflation. Meantime, many other businesses still complain of worker shortages and an inability to fill millions of open positions.
