June New Jobs Numbers Climb to 224,000, Unemployment 3.7% & Most People in Workforce Ever

Washington, DC…Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 224,000 in June, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 3.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Notable job gains occurred in professional and business services, in health care, and in transportation and warehousing.

This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The
household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment,
by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey measures nonfarm
employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information about
the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see
the Technical Note.

Household Survey Data

Both the unemployment rate, at 3.7 percent, and the number of unemployed
persons, at 6.0 million, changed little in June. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.3
percent), adult women (3.3 percent), teenagers (12.7 percent), Whites
(3.3 percent), Blacks (6.0 percent), Asians (2.1 percent), and Hispanics
(4.3 percent) showed little or no change in June. (See tables A-1, A-2,
and A-3.)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more)
was little changed at 1.4 million in June and accounted for 23.7 percent
of the unemployed. (See table A-12.)

The labor force participation rate, at 62.9 percent, was little changed
over the month and unchanged over the year. In June, the employment-
population ratio was 60.6 percent for the fourth month in a row. (See
table A-1.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes
referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged
at 4.3 million in June. These individuals, who would have preferred full-
time employment, were working part time because their hours had been
reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-8.)

In June, 1.6 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force,
little different from a year earlier. (Data are not seasonally adjusted.)
These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available
for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They
were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in
the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 425,000 discouraged workers in
June, little changed from a year earlier. (Data are not seasonally
adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for
work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining
1.1 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in June had
not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family
responsibilities. (See table A-16.)

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 224,000 in June. Employment
growth has averaged 172,000 per month thus far this year, compared with
an average monthly gain of 223,000 in 2018. In June, notable job gains
occurred in professional and business services, in health care, and in
transportation and warehousing. (See table B-1.)

Professional and business services added 51,000 jobs in June, following
little employment change in May (+24,000). Employment growth in the
industry has averaged 35,000 per month in the first half of 2019,
compared with an average monthly gain of 47,000 in 2018.

Employment in health care increased by 35,000 over the month and by
403,000 over the past 12 months. In June, job growth occurred in
ambulatory health care services (+19,000) and hospitals (+11,000).

Transportation and warehousing added 24,000 jobs over the month and
158,000 over the past 12 months. In June, job gains occurred among
couriers and messengers (+7,000) and in air transportation (+3,000).

Construction employment continued to trend up in June (+21,000), in
line with its average monthly gain over the prior 12 months.

Manufacturing employment edged up in June (+17,000), following 4 months
of little change. So far this year, job growth in the industry has
averaged 8,000 per month, compared with an average of 22,000 per month
in 2018. In June, employment rose in computer and electronic products
(+7,000) and in plastics and rubber products (+4,000).

Employment in other major industries, including mining, wholesale trade,
retail trade, information, financial activities, leisure and hospitality,
and government, showed little change over the month.

In June, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm
payrolls rose by 6 cents to $27.90, following a 9-cent gain in May.
Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.1
percent. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and
nonsupervisory employees increased by 4 cents to $23.43 in June. (See
tables B-3 and B-8.)

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls
was unchanged at 34.4 hours in June. In manufacturing, the average
workweek edged up 0.1 hour to 40.7 hours, while overtime was unchanged
at 3.4 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory
employees on private nonfarm payrolls held at 33.6 hours. (See tables
B-2 and B-7.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for April was revised
down from +224,000 to +216,000, and the change for May was revised
down from +75,000 to +72,000. With these revisions, employment gains
in April and May combined were 11,000 less than previously reported.
(Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from
businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates
and from the recalculation of seasonal factors.) After revisions,
job gains have averaged 171,000 per month over the last 3 months.

_____________
The Employment Situation for July is scheduled to be released
on Friday, August 2, 2019, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).

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| |
| 2019 Preliminary Benchmark Revision to Establishment Survey |
| Data to be released August 21, 2019 |
| |
| Each year, the establishment survey estimates are benchmarked to |
| comprehensive counts of employment from the Quarterly Census of |
| Employment and Wages (QCEW) for the month of March. These counts |
| are derived from state unemployment insurance (UI) tax records |
| that nearly all employers are required to file. On August 21, |
| 2019, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will |
| release the preliminary estimate of the upcoming annual benchmark |
| revision. This is the same day the first-quarter 2019 data from |
| QCEW will be issued. Preliminary benchmark revisions for all major |
| industry sectors, as well as total nonfarm and total private |
| employment, will be available on the BLS website at |
| www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesprelbmk.htm. |
| |
| The final benchmark revision will be issued with the publication |
| of the January 2020 Employment Situation news release in February |
| 2020. |
|_______________________________________________________________________|