Payrolls expand by 288,000, unemployment drops to nearly 6-year low of 6.1%
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. economy produced another big batch of jobs in June, — many of them good paying — and the unemployment rate fell to a nearly six-year low as more people entered the labor force and found work.
The U.S. added 288,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate fell to 6.1% from 6.3%, the government reported Thursday. That’s the lowest jobless rate since September 2008.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected an increase of 215,000 nonfarm jobs.
The strong jobs report suggests the economy continues to gain momentum, and it could force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner than it had planned unless growth cools off.
U.S. stock futures SPY +0.13% only saw slight advance on those concerns, as Treasury yields 10_YEAR +1.79% climbed .
In June, virtually every major industry added jobs, led by professional services, retail, restaurants, health care, finance and manufacturing.
Employment gains for May and April were also revised up by a combined 29,000, the Labor Department said .
The government said 224,000 new jobs were created in May, up from a preliminary 217,000, based on newly available data. April’s gain was revised up to 304,000 from 282,000, marking the biggest increase in jobs in two and a half years.
Average hourly wages, meanwhile, rose 6 cents, or 0.2% to $24.45 in June. Wages are up 2% over the past 12 months. The average workweek was unchanged at 34.5 hours.
The labor-force participation rate was also flat at 62.8%.
So far in 2014 the economy has gained an average of 231,000 jobs a month, 19% faster than the 2013 pace of 194,000. It’s the best stretch of hiring since the recession ended in mid-2009.
The so-called U6 unemployment rate that includes people who can only find part-time work and those who recently gave up looking fell to 12.1% in June from 12.2%.
Separately, the government said weekly U.S. jobless claims edged up by 2,000 to 315,000 in week of June 22 to June 28. Jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, have been hovering near a postrecession low for several months.
Jeffry Bartash is a reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.
