Pedestrians walk past a broadway theater in New York, the United States, July 2, 2021. U.S. employers added 850,000 jobs in June, with unemployment rate unexpectedly edging up to 5.9 percent, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday. The latest data followed downwardly revised job growth of 269,000 in April and upwardly revised increase of 583,000 in May, indicating a bumpy road in labor market recovery.Photo:Xinhua
A tourist poses for a photo with costumed characters on Times Square in New York, the United States, July 2, 2021. U.S. employers added 850,000 jobs in June, with unemployment rate unexpectedly edging up to 5.9 percent, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday. The latest data followed downwardly revised job growth of 269,000 in April and upwardly revised increase of 583,000 in May, indicating a bumpy road in labor market recovery.Photo:Xinhua
A man helps a costumed character to wear his costume on Times Square in New York, the United States, July 2, 2021. U.S. employers added 850,000 jobs in June, with unemployment rate unexpectedly edging up to 5.9 percent, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday. The latest data followed downwardly revised job growth of 269,000 in April and upwardly revised increase of 583,000 in May, indicating a bumpy road in labor market recovery.Photo:Xinhua
Sales persons for sightviewing buses work on Times Square in New York, the United States, July 2, 2021. U.S. employers added 850,000 jobs in June, with unemployment rate unexpectedly edging up to 5.9 percent, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday. The latest data followed downwardly revised job growth of 269,000 in April and upwardly revised increase of 583,000 in May, indicating a bumpy road in labor market recovery.Photo:Xinhua
US employers added 850,000 jobs in June, with unemployment rate unexpectedly edging up to 5.9 percent, the US Labor Department reported Friday.
The latest data followed downwardly revised job growth of 269,000 in April and upwardly revised increase of 583,000 in May, indicating a bumpy road in labor market recovery.
In June, job gains were notable in leisure and hospitality, public and private education, professional and business services, retail trade, and other services, according to the report released by the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 343,000, with over half of the job gain in food services and drinking places, the report showed, while noting that employment in leisure and hospitality is still down by 2.2 million, or 12.9 percent, since February 2020.
Employment in local government education, state government education and private education increased by 155,000, 75,000 and 39,000 respectively, but is still lower than the pre-pandemic level.
"In both public and private education, staffing fluctuations due to the pandemic, in part reflecting the return to in-person learning and other school-related activities, have distorted the normal seasonal buildup and layoff patterns, likely contributing to the job gains in June," the report said.
The unemployment rate unexpectedly rose by 0.1 percentage point to 5.9 percent. The measure was down considerably from its recent high in April 2020, but remained well above the pre-pandemic level of 3.5 percent.
Among the unemployed, the number of "job leavers" -- unemployed persons who quit or voluntarily left their previous job and began looking for new employment -- increased by 164,000 to 942,000 in June, the report showed.
US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell recently cited four factors that seem likely to be holding back labor supply, one of which is finding a new job, a process that takes longer as workers match their skills to what the employer wants.
Other factors are fear of returning to work, which should "diminish" as vaccinations move ahead, lingering childcare needs, and federal supplements to unemployment insurance.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 233,000 to 4.0 million in June, following a decline of 431,000 in May, according to the Labor Department report. This measure, which accounted for 42.1 percent of the total unemployed in June, is 2.9 million higher as compared with that of February 2020.
Among major ethnic groups, the unemployment rates for Whites (5.2 percent), African Americans (9.2 percent), Asians (5.8 percent), and Hispanics (7.4 percent) showed little or no change in June, indicating an uneven recovery among different groups.
Despite the improvement in the pandemic-ravaged labor market, some 9.5 million people remained unemployed in June, well above the pre-pandemic level of 5.7 million, according to the report.
