The employment situation in June has shown promise in creating opportunities and increasing wage growth. The performance by the US economy has exceeded the expectations as it added nearly 224,000 jobs, thus providing more opportunities against the market expectations of 162,000 jobs. The employment situation in June, therefore, has created more optimism among the policy-makers and job seekers after a brief period of slow growth.
The rate of unemployment has seen a slight change as it has gone up to 3.7 percent from 3.6 percent in May. Despite this marginal increase in the unemployment rate, the increased job creation is said to have given the momentum to the US economy.
The US economy added about 172,000 jobs a month on average in the last three months, which was down from 223,000 in the previous year. The addition of 224,000 jobs in June, however, has helped cool off the pressure on the economy.
Establishment Survey Data
Notable job gains were made in professional and business services, health care, and transportation and warehousing. The professional and business services added over 51,000 jobs for the month of June, which is one of the top performers of the month.
The average employment growth in professional and business services is 35,000 a week in 2018 and the month of May saw a meager increase of 24,000. However, the increase in June has been remarkable as it also went above the employment growth of 2018, which was 47,000.
The health care sector added 35,000 jobs in June, in which ambulatory health care services and hospitals added the most number of jobs – 19,000 and 11,000 jobs respectively. The construction sector (+21,000), manufacturing (+17,000), transportation and warehousing (24,000) have also added a significant number of jobs in June.
The average hourly wage earnings for all employees increased by 6 cents, following the 9-cent increase in May. Over the last 12 months, hourly earnings of employees have increased by 3.1 percent.
Household Survey Data
The employment status of the major workers’ groups has seen little changes from the month of May. The unemployment rate of the major workers’ groups for the month of June is as follows:
| Workers Groups | Unemployment Rates |
| Adult Men | 3.3 percent |
| Adult Women | 3.3 percent |
| Teenagers | 12.7 percent |
| White population | 3.3 percent |
| Black population | 6.0 percent |
| Hispanic population | 4.3 percent |
| Asian population | 2.1 percent |
The labor force participation rate was at 62.9 percent, which witnessed little change from the month of May. The employment-population ratio remained unchanged at 60.6 percent for the fourth month in a row.
Final Analysis
The increase in the number of jobs for the month of June has alleviated eased the pressure on the United States’ economy. The slow growth of the job market in May had raised questions on the health of the economy, and on the future course to be taken to stabilize the economy.
The positive figures presented in June has given a breathing space for the policymakers and has also given an impetus to workers and job-seekers as the rate job-creation and the average weekly wages have increased.