U.S. Job Growth Continues But At Slower Than Expected Rate

09:57, 6th July 2012

(RTTNews) - Employment in the U.S. increased for the twenty-first consecutive month in June, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday, although the pace of job growth for the month fell well short of economist estimates.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment rose by 80,000 jobs in June compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 100,000 jobs.

While the report also showed that the data for May was revised to show an increase of 77,000 jobs compared to the addition of 69,000 jobs originally reported, the data for April was revised to show an increase of 68,000 jobs compared to the addition of 77,000 jobs that had been reported.

Peter Boockvar, managing director at Miller Tabak, said, "Bottom line, the 3rd straight month of job growth below 100,000 is pathetic."

"The weakness in April and May were likely due to some weather give back from strength over the winter, but June is more likely being negatively influenced from the growing global economic moderation that will likely intensify in the 2nd half," he added.

Despite the continued job growth during the month, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.2 percent, in line with economist estimates.

The unemployment rate remained unchanged as the increase in employment was offset by an increase in the size of the labor force.

The job growth in June reflected a continued increase in employment in the private sector, which added 84,000 jobs in June compared to an increase of 105,000 jobs in May.

Employment in the professional and business services sector rose by 47,000 jobs, including the addition of over 25,000 temporary jobs.

The health care and manufacturing sectors also added about 11,000 jobs each, while modest decreases in employment were seen in the information and retail sectors.

Government employment also showed a continued decrease during the month, edging down by 4,000 jobs in June compared to the loss of 28,000 jobs in the previous month.

The report also showed that that average hourly employee earnings rose by $0.06 to $23.50 in June. With the increase, average hourly earnings are up by 2.0 percent compared to the same month a year ago.

Rob Carnell, chief international economist at ING, said, "Overall, this was a somewhat disappointing labor report, but not a cataclysmic one."

"Whilst there will doubtless be talk of QE3 on the back of this, supporting the bond market and weakening the U.S. dollar, the reality is that this is not bad enough to get the Fed to embark on a new round of money printing just yet," he added.

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