June Jobs Report: Steady As We Go Amid a Heated Presidential Campaign

The U.S. added 206,000 jobs in June, reflecting steady modest growth in the economy boosted by consumer spending.

The modest growth rate, coupled with slowing wage growth is consistent with slowly declining inflation. The data suggests that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to reduce interest rates before September’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

It’s steady as we go in the midst of a heated presidential campaign.

Concerningly, Black employment declined by 73,000 while white employment grew by 173,000. At the same time, Black unemployment rose by 29,000 while white unemployment dipped only slightly by 7,000. The racial disparity in the labor market raised the Black/white unemployment gap to 1.80, drifting back to the previously persistent 2:1 ratio.

The overall unemployment rate edged up slightly to 4.1% percent.

The labor force participation rate increased to 62.6% while the employment/population rate remain unchanged at 60.1%. Long-term unemployment -- workers who were jobless for 27 weeks or more -- settled at 1.1 million, or just over 20% of all unemployed.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% to $35 rising $ 1.30 year over year.

Four industries: health care, social assistance, construction, and government accounted for 74 percent of total job creation. All other industries showed little or no job growth. The change in Hispanic employment was similar to that among white workers, with employment rising and unemployment falling. The growth in construction industry employment undoubtedly contributed to the employment growth among Hispanics. Relatively more Hispanic than Black workers are concentrated in the construction industry.

The jobs report reflects steady modest growth in the economy boosted by consumer spending.