US economy adds 147,000 jobs despite economic uncertainty
The Department of Labor released the numbers on Thursday. The data, which was released a day early because the Independence Day holiday falls on Friday, showed the unemployment rate ticked down from May by 0.1 percentage points to 4.1 percent. The average workweek was shorter last month, suggesting businesses were probably reducing hours amid rising economic headwinds.
Government jobs at the state and local levels led the gains, adding 73,000 positions in June. State governments added 47,000 jobs, led by 40,000 in education. Local government jobs grew by 23,000. A downward turn continues at the federal level with a loss of 7,000 jobs, which accounts for 69,000 jobs lost since January.
Gains in government jobs were followed by the healthcare sector, which added 39,000 jobs. Social assistance employment increased by 19,000 jobs.
'On net, it was a good report,'' Sarah House, senior economist with Wells Fargo, told The Associated Press news agency.
'But when you dig underneath the surface, it was another jobs report that didn't look quite as good as first meets the eye.''
Looming uncertainty driven by Trump's tariffs and immigration policies led to little change across much of the private sector in terms of hiring, including in construction, mining, oil and gas extraction, wholesale and retail trade, transportation, financial services, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality.
Trump's constant changes in tariffs policy, announcing and suspending import taxes and then coming up with new ones, has left businesses bewildered and hesitant to make decisions about hiring and investment.
Layoffs have started, but they are still relatively low. The Labor Department's weekly jobless claims report, which also came out on Thursday said claims fell by 4,000 to 233,000. The ADP private payroll report out on Wednesday showed a net loss of 33,000 jobs.
'Though layoffs continue to be rare, a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers led to job losses last month,' said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP.
Thursday's jobs report also showed average hourly wages came in cooler than forecasters expected, rising 0.2 percent from May and 3.7 percent from a year earlier.
The year-over-year number is inching closer to the 3.5 percent year-over-year number considered consistent with the Federal Reserve's 2 percent inflation target.
'For the FOURTH month in a row, jobs numbers have beat market expectations with nearly 150,000 good jobs created in June,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
'The economy is booming again and it will only get better when the One, Big, Beautiful Bill is passed and implemented,' she said, referring to Republican legislation to cut taxes, food assistance and the Medicaid health insurance programme for low-income Americans.
Growth slowdown
Despite the White House's characterisation, the US job market has cooled significantly in the past year. This year, employers have added an average of 130,000 jobs per month, down from an average of 186,000 in 2024. From 2021 to 2023, the US economy added an average of 400,000 jobs per month as it made up for jobs shed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other data show the US economy contracting. Last week, a report from the Department of Commerce found the US economy shrank by 0.5 percent in the first quarter.
The US labour force – the count of those working and looking for work – fell by 130,000 last month after a drop of 625,000 in May. Economists expected Trump's immigration deportations – and the fear of them – to push foreign workers out of the labour force.
The Labor Department said the number of workers who believe no jobs are available for them rose by 256,000 last month to 637,000.
Wells Fargo expected monthly job growth to fall below 100,000 in the second half of the year. 'We're bracing for a much lower pace of job growth,' House said. 'There's still a lot of policy uncertainty.'
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