By Tom Burnett CFA
On July 8, 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the employment data for the month of June. Total employment grew by 372,000 jobs, in line with the average increase of 383,000 for the prior three months. The unemployment rate was unchanged from the previous month at 3.6%. That rate has been unchanged for the past four months. The number of unemployed workers remained at 5.9 million, up slightly from the 5.7 million figure in February 2020, prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. The 2020 economic slowdown led to the immediate loss of 22 million jobs, all but 524,000 of which have now been recovered. In fact, total nonfarm private employment is now 140,000 higher than its February 2020 level. Government (federal, state and local) is down by 664,000 from the February 2020 figure.
Manufacturing employment rose by 29,000 in June, bringing it back to the February 2020 level. Average hourly earnings for private nonfarm payrolls rose by $0.10 in June to $32.08, up by 5.1% from the prior year.
The reported figures for April and May were revised down by a total of 74,000.
The next jobs report will be released on August 5, 2022.
Tom Burnett CFA is Director of Research