MW: Private payrolls up 83,000 in June, rate at 9.5%
By Greg Robb
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Total job growth dropped in June for the first time this year due as a quarter million temporary census workers were laid off, the Labor Department said Friday. Private sector payrolls expanded by a modest 83,000 in June lower than the 115,000 gain expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. The unemployment rate dropped to 9.5% in June from 9.7% in the previous month. This is the lowest level since July 2009. There was a sharp 652,000 decline in the labor force in June. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain steady. Average hourly earnings were flat in June. Economists had been expecting a 0.2% gain. Earnings are up 1.7% in the past year. The average workweek was 34.1 hours.
