U.S. Employment Jumps By 147,000 Jobs In June, More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - A closely watched report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed employment in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of June.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 147,000 jobs in June after jumping by an upwardly revised 144,000 jobs in May.

Economists had expected employment to climb by 110,000 jobs compared to the addition of 139,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The stronger than expected job growth partly reflected increases in state government and healthcare employment, which helped to offset the continued loss of government jobs.

The report also said the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1 percent in June from 4.2 percent in May. The unemployment rate was expected to inch up to 4.3 percent.

The unexpected decrease by the unemployment rate came as the by the household survey measure of employment fell by 222,000 persons, while the labor force shrank by 130,000 persons.

"If businesses keep expanding payrolls like they've done so far this year, the Fed can comfortably sit in 'wait and see' mode at the upcoming policy meeting," said Jeffrey Roach, Chief Economist for LPL Financial. "Uncertainty around tariffs and trade have apparently not spooked businesses into shedding workers."

He added, "One note of caution: the administration is still actively negotiating details with several major trading partners and the eventual business impacts are unknown."

The Labor Department released a separate report on Thursday showing an unexpected decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended June 28th.

The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 233,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 237,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 240,000 from the 236,000 originally reported for the previous week.