Julia Shapero and The Hill
(The Hill) – The U.S. economy added 206.000 jobs in June, and the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.1 percent, according to new Labor Department data released Friday.
The latest jobs numbers are are largely in line with expectations that the economy would add 190,000 jobs and maintain a jobless rate of 4 percent.
This follows a blockbuster report in May, which saw 272,000 jobs created but also marked the end of the unemployment rate’s longest sub-4 percent streak since the 1960s, as it ticked up slightly from 3.9 to 4 percent.
The Labor Department on Friday revised May’s job gain down to 218,000 and April’s job gain down to 108,000, meaning the economy added 111,000 fewer jobs than first reported.
The labor market has remained surprisingly resilient as the Federal Reserve maintains two-decade high interest rates as part of its effort to bring inflation back down to target.
After peaking at a 40-year high of 9.1 percent in June 2022, inflation has cooled significantly, falling to 3.3 percent as of May. However, it remains stubbornly higher than the central bank would like, dashing hopes of imminent rate cuts.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has maintained in recent months that they need to see better inflation readings before beginning to ease interest rates from their current range of 5.25 to 5.5 percent.
“We want to be more confident that inflation is moving…
