The U.S. economy added 372,000 jobs in June according to the latest jobs data from the U.S. Labor Department released Friday morning, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged from the previous three months at 3.6 percent. Notably, June's read on the U.S. employment situation showed that the American labor force shrank from 62.3 to 62.2 percent — a loss of 353,000 — from May to June.
Payroll employment rises by 372,000 in June; unemployment rate remains at 3.6% https://t.co/1Y9cSWKsy9 #JobsReport #BLSdata
— BLS-Labor Statistics (@BLS_gov) July 8, 2022
Ahead of Friday's jobs data release that beat expectations, economists expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 3.6 percent while seeing 268,000 new payrolls reported for June, fewer jobs than reported for May when the government said 390,000 jobs were added.
In June, there were still around 200,000 more Americans unemployed than before the pandemic despite President Biden's promise to build the country "back better." There are also 215,000 more "long-term unemployed" Americans than in February 2020, and the labor force participation rate is still down 1.2 percent from where it was pre-COVID. The number of Americans not in the labor force who want a job number an additional 5.7 million — 700,000 more than before the pandemic hit.
What's more, 2.1 million Americans remained out of work in June due to COVID, casting more doubt on another Biden promise that he would "shut down the virus" and not the economy.
Wages increased 0.3 percent in June or 5.1 percent in the last 12 months — and the third month showing slowing wage growth. Again, however, consumer inflation has outpaced wage growth, hitting 8.6 percent last month, meaning Americans' real wages are down roughly 3 percent over the last year. Forget "Putin's Price Hike," that's "Biden's Pay Cut."
Lower revisions to April and May show -74K FEWER jobs created that previously reported. Wages up +5.1% from a year ago; paychecks failing to keep up with inflation.
— Dagen McDowell (@dagenmcdowell) July 8, 2022
The latest inflation data for June will come when the Consumer Price Index drops next Wednesday followed by the Producer Price Index on Thursday.
The monthly report for June follows Thursday's release showing 235,000 new weekly jobless claims — the most in almost six months — for the week ending July 2 and a Wednesday report from the Department of Labor that employers were advertising fewer jobs in recent months. In addition, the number of jobs cut in June numbered 32,517 — nearly 60 percent more layoffs compared to last June and more cuts in one month since February 2021.
As Katie reported last week, fears of a recession in the U.S. continue to become more justified as estimates for second quarter GDP shrinkage paint an increasingly dire picture. Friday's slowed jobs growth is just another sign that the economy continues to cool in response to the Federal Reserve's attempt to surge interest rates in a bid to tame inflation that's risen to four decade-highs under the Biden administration's economic policies of spending and printing money.