Published On 2/7/2026
The US economy added only 57,000 non-farm jobs last June, in a limited reading of the labor market, while the unemployment rate changed slightly at 4.2%, according to what the US Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Thursday.
The bureau said employment continued to rise in professional and business services, social assistance, and health care, while the leisure and hospitality sector lost jobs during the month.
US employment data is issued by two monthly surveys. The first measures households’ labor market positions, including unemployment and characteristics of the unemployed, while the second measures non-farm jobs, working hours and wages by sector.
Unemployment indicators
The number of unemployed people reached 7.1 million people in June, without significant change during the month, and unemployment indicators did not change much on an annual basis, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rate among adult men was 3.9%, 3.7% among adult women, and 14.6% among adolescents. It also reached 3.6% among whites, 6.6% among blacks, 3.9% among Asians, and 5.2% among Hispanics.
The number of long-term unemployed, that is, those who have not worked for 27 weeks or more, remained at approximately 1.9 million people, but it increased by about 286,000 compared to the previous year, and they constituted 27.3% of the total unemployed in June.
The labor force participation rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 61.5%, while the employment-to-population ratio decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 59%, indicating that a portion of the population has left the labor force or a decline in their involvement in it.
The number of part-time workers for economic reasons remained at 4.7 million people, who prefer to work full-time but work part-time because their hours are reduced or they are unable to find a full-time job.
The number of people who are not in the labor force but want a job reached 6 million people, and these people are not counted among the unemployed because they did not actively search for work during the four weeks preceding the survey or were not available for work.
Winning and losing sectors
The professional and business services sector added 36,000 jobs in June, continuing its recovery since October 2025, as the sector has added 172,000 jobs since that low, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Employment in social assistance increased by 25,000 jobs, driven mainly by services for individuals and families, which added 17,000 jobs, compared to an average monthly increase of 16,000 jobs during the previous 12 months.
The healthcare sector also continued its upward trend, adding 22,000 jobs, but it came at a slower pace than the average monthly gain during the previous year of 38,000 jobs, while hospitals added 9,000 jobs in June.
On the other hand, the entertainment and hospitality sector lost 61,000 jobs, reflecting an unusual weakness in seasonal employment, and the office said that employment in this sector has not achieved a significant net change since the beginning of 2026.
Other major sectors did not record significant changes during the month, including mining, oil and gas extraction, construction, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage, information and financial activities, other services, and government.
Wages and working hours
The average hourly wage for all nonfarm private sector workers rose 13 cents, or 0.3%, to $37.64 in June, and the annual wage increase was 3.5%.
The average wage for workers in production and non-supervisory jobs in the private sector increased 7 cents, or 0.2%, to $32.38 per hour.
The average workweek for all workers in the non-agricultural private sector stabilized at 34.3 hours, while the average workweek in manufacturing fell to 40.3 hours, and overtime hours increased to 3.2 hours.
The office reduced its previous job estimates for April and May combined by about 74,000 jobs. The April increase was revised from 179,000 to 148,000 jobs, and the May increase was reduced from 172,000 to 129,000 jobs.
Geographic variation
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said in separate data released on Wednesday on employment and unemployment conditions in urban areas during May that unemployment rates were lower than their levels a year ago in 191 out of 387 urban areas, higher in 164 areas, and unchanged in 32 areas.
Forty-seven metropolitan areas recorded an unemployment rate below 3% in May, while 7 areas recorded rates of at least 8%. The non-seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate was 4.1% in the same month, without much change from the previous year.
At the level of non-farm jobs in urban areas, employment increased year-on-year in only 8 regions, declined in 4 regions, and remained essentially unchanged in 375 regions, which reflects that the weak employment momentum was not limited to the June reading alone.
