The U.S. economy just recorded the worst jobs report of President Joe Biden’s time in the White House.
In June, the labor market added 209,000 new jobs, down from a downwardly revised 303,000 in May. This was below the consensus estimate of 225,000.
The unemployment rate dipped to 3.6 percent, down from 3.7 percent.
A notable component of the report was the revisions.
“The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for April was revised down by 77,000, from +294,000 to +217,000, and the change for May was revised down by 33,000, from +339,000 to +306,000. With these revisions, employment in April and May combined is 110,000 lower than previously reported.”
Overall, non-farm employment has increased by an average of 278,000 per month in the first half of 2023. By comparison, the U.S. economy was adding an average of 399,000 per month in the first six months of 2022.
Average hourly earnings were unchanged at 4.4 percent year-over-year and 0.4 percent month-over-month.
Government led the job creation in June, adding 60,000 new positions. This was followed by healthcare (41,000), social assistance (24,000), and construction (23,000).
Retail lost 11,000 positions, while transportation and warehousing shed 7,000 workers.
The number of people working two or more jobs climbed by about 200,000 to 7.955 million.
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