U.S. Employers Added Less-Than-Expected 57,000 Jobs in June

The June national jobs report, released Thursday, July 2, by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), presented a partly cloudy view of America’s business health and labor market. 

The new report showed total U.S. nonfarm payroll employment increased by 57,000 last month. This is a big dip below the revised total of 129,000 jobs gained in May and way under the 113,000 jobs that many economists had predicted for the month. Analysts estimated that the World Cup soccer tournament added 40,000 jobs to the U.S. economy in June. Without that influence, the total figure would not have reached 20,000.

The unemployment rate, though, did drop slightly to 4.2%, versus 4.3% in May. Economists had predicted the rate to remain at 4.3%. 

Looking at June’s unemployment data:

• The number of unemployed Americans, at 7.1 million, changed little from the prior month.
• Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates also showed little or no change for adult men (3.9%), adult women (3.7%), teenagers (14.6%), and people who are White (3.6%), Black (6.6%), Asian (3.9%) or Hispanic (5.2%).
• The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little, at 1.9 million, but is up by 286,000 over the year. The long-term unemployed accounted for 27.3% of all unemployed people last month. 

Looking at June job gains by industry sector:

• Employment in professional and business services continued to trend higher (+36,000). The industry has added 172,000 jobs since a recent low in October 2025.
• Social assistance added 25,000 jobs, primarily in individual and family services (+17,000). Over the prior 12 months, social assistance had added an average of 16,000 jobs per month. 
• Healthcare continued its upward trend (+22,000), but at a slower pace than the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+38,000). Hospitals added 9,000 jobs last month. 
• Leisure and hospitality employment declined by 61,000, reflecting weaker-than-usual seasonal hiring. The industry has shown little net change on the year. 
• Employment showed little or no change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation and warehousing; information; financial activities; other services; and government. 

Looking at June’s wage-and-hour data: 

• Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 13 cents, or 0.3%, to $37.64. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.5%. In June, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 7 cents, or 0.2%, to $32.38.
• The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged, at 34.3 hours. In manufacturing, the average workweek edged down to 40.3 hours, and overtime edged up to 3.2 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls declined by 0.1 hour to 33.7 hours. 

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