Washington DC [US], July 3: The United States economy added 57,000 jobs in June, marking a slowdown in economic growth following several months of steady gains.
The weaker-than-expected hiring figures were released on Thursday in the US Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) monthly employment report.
The report also revised down numbers for the previous two months. May jobs report: 129,000, down from the previously reported 172,000, and April was lowered by 31,000 jobs to 148,000 jobs.
The June job gains were focused in a handful of sectors. Professional and business services added 36,000 jobs; healthcare added 22,000, and social assistance added 25,000 jobs.
Other sectors, including mining, oil and gas extraction; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation and warehousing; and financial activities, remained stagnant.
Leisure and hospitality employment lost 61,000 jobs before the normally busy summer season in the US, which was otherwise expected to be bolstered by an influx of World Cup-driven tourism. Goldman Sachs had forecast that the tournament would have added 40,000 jobs in June.
The unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percent, from 4.3 percent to 4.2 percent. The broader U-6 unemployment rate, which includes discouraged workers, people marginally attached to the labour force, and those working part-time because they cannot find full-time work, fell from 8.1 percent to 7.9 percent.
SLOW growth
However, labour force participation dropped by 0.3 percent to 61.5 percent, reaching its lowest level since March 2021.
The latest figures follow other economic reports out this week showing the stability of the US labour market. The ADP private payroll report showed 98,000 jobs added for the month, as did the US Labor Department's jobs and labour turnover report, which tracks the number of people leaving jobs and taking ones, was unchanged, suggesting that people who have jobs are not leaving for new ones.
"The pace of hiring is telling a story of both supply and demand. We know it's taking people longer to find work, but there also are signs of labour supply constraints in certain industries," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, in a release.
"For now, the overall effect is a slowdown in job creation." Americans are discouraged from job searching. On Tuesday, the Conference Board survey on consumer confidence showed that the share of people saying that a job is "hard to get" jumped by 22.5 percent.
US markets are trending upwards despite the weaker-than-expected jobs report. Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 jumped 0.6 percent since the market opened, and the Dow is up by 0.8 percent.
Gold, which is generally considered a safe investment in times of economic uncertainty, jumped 2 percent on the heels of the report as the data indicated the US Federal Reserve may not hike interest rates in the near future.
Source: Qatar Tribune
