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The U.S. economy added 528,000 jobs in June, according to Department of Labor (DOL) data released Friday, more than double economists’ projections of 250,000 new jobs.
The unemployment rate edged down to 3.5%, according to the DOL’s report, which was also below economists’ predictions of 3.6%, according to The Wall Street Journal. The economy outperformed last month’s high job growth of 372,000, which had itself outpaced expectations, indicating that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate have not begun to cool off the economy.
Job gains in July were reported across the economy, but were particularly high in the leisure and hospitality, professional and business services and health care sectors. The labor force participation rate of 62.1% remained below its February 2020 pre-pandemic level of 63.4%.
Over the last four months the average monthly gain was 388,000, according to the report.
The U.S. economy has posted consecutive quarters of negative GDP, which some consider to be, by definition, a recession, according to previous DCNF reporting.
