WASHINGTON The US added a robust 195,000 jobs in June, and job growth in prior months was revised higher, the Labor Department reported on Friday.
The June employment gain was well above the analyst consensus estimate of 166,000 jobs, and marked a steady pickup in job creation in the economy.
Overall the first six months of 2013 averaged 201,000 net new positions per month, compared with 185,000 in the year-ago period.
The dollar rose broadly on Friday after strong job market data showed the US economy on a solid footing.
The US dollar hit a five-week high versus the yen and a six-week peak against the euro. The dollar index hit its highest in three years.
Brent crude, however, rose over $106 a barrel after Egypt’s army said it was on high alert after an attack in Sinai, though ports and shipping through the Suez Canal have been operating normally. WTI crude prices rose 0.4 per cent to $101.65 per barrel.
The Labor Department revised April and May jobs numbers higher, saying the combined gains in those months were 70,000 higher than previously estimated.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate held steady as expected in June at 7.6 per cent, as the number of people in the work force continued to rise, the department said. The better-than-expected June jobs report raised hopes for a stronger economy and expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin to reduce its massive quantitative easing (QE) stimulus program soon.
In mid-May Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the bank could start to taper the $85 billion a month asset purchases if the economy continued to improve.
“Given Bernanke’s penchant to judge job growth from the 6-month average, he is likely to see this report as evidence of economic strength, both a vindication of QE and a reason to start curtailing it,” said Chris Low of FTN Financial.
The private sector continued to drive job growth in the world’s largest economy, adding 202,000 positions, the Labor Department data showed. The government cut 7,000 jobs, 5,000 of them at the federal level, in part reflecting the ongoing sequester spending cuts that began on March 1.
The most robust job growth -- 75,000 new jobs -- was in the leisure and hospitality sector, which has been making a strong comeback over the past 12 months amid a modest economic expansion. In that sector, 52,000 jobs were added in food services and drinking places, the department said.
Other leading gains were in professional and business services, up 53,000 jobs, retail trade (37,000), health care (20,000) and financial activities (17,000).
