Job growth moderated in June, taking some steam out of what had been an incredibly strong job market.
Nonfarm payrolls rose 209,000 in June and the unemployment rate was 3.6%, the Labor Department reported Friday. That compared to the Dow Jones consensus estimates for growth of 240,000 and an unemployment level of 3.6%.
The total, while still strong from a historical perspective, marked a sizeable drop from May’s downwardly revised total of 306,000 and was the slowest month for job creation since payrolls fell by 268,000 in December 2020.
The closely watched wage numbers were slightly stronger than expected. Median hourly earnings increased 0.4% for the month and 4.4% over the prior year.
Job growth would have been even softer without a boost in government jobs, which increased by 60,000, almost all of which came from the state and local levels.
Other sectors that showed strong gains were health care (41,000), social assistance (24,000) and construction (23,000).
Leisure and hospitality, which had been the strongest driver of job growth in the past three years, added just 21,000 jobs in the month. The sector has cooled off considerably, showing only modest gains over the last three months.
The retail sector lost 11,000 jobs in June, while transportation and warehousing saw a decrease of 7,000.
