US Employers Added 57,000 Jobs in June

The U.S. economy added a mere 57,000 jobs in June, a sharp deceleration from prior months, as reported by the Department of Labor on Thursday. This figure is less than half of the previous month's job gains, indicating continued caution among employers. The unemployment rate saw a slight decrease to 4.2% from 4.3% in May. However, this decline is largely attributed to individuals ceasing their job search and thus no longer being counted in unemployment statistics, rather than a significant increase in employment.

Weekly applications for unemployment benefits showed a modest decrease, falling by 1,000 to 215,000 for the week ending June 27. This figure was lower than the 225,000 new applications anticipated by analysts surveyed by FactSet. These weekly filings are considered a real-time indicator of the U.S. job market's health, and they have remained within a range of 200,000 to 250,000 since the economy's emergence from the pandemic recession. Layoffs are currently at historically low levels.

The slowdown in hiring began approximately two years ago and further tapered in 2025. Factors contributing to this trend include President Donald Trump's tariffs, reductions in federal workforce, and the persistent impact of high interest rates implemented to curb inflation. Several prominent companies, including Verizon, UPS, Amazon, Disney, Starbucks, and Walmart, have recently announced job cuts.

The four-week moving average of jobless claims, designed to smooth out weekly fluctuations, decreased by 2,500 to 222,000. For the week ending June 20, the total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose slightly by 2,000 to 1.81 million.