It was the biggest monthly jobs gain since August 2020, when the economy added 1.6 million jobs.
The hospitality and leisure sector grew the strongest, having the most ground to cover after the pandemic devastated the travel and service industries. That sector added 343,000 jobs. More than half of them were at restaurants and bars.
The number of education jobs also surged in June. Local government hiring jumped by 155,000 jobs, state governments jobs increased by 75,000, and private education positions were up by 39,000. The sector has seen a lot of fluctuation during the pandemic, distorting its seasonal patterns, making it harder to know what’s actually going on from month to month.
Nevertheless, June was a “bright” jobs report, even though there is still plenty to worry about, wrote Kate Bahn, interim chief economist at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, in a tweet. It “just means it’s good foundation to grow,” she added.
America’s once-strong labor market is still far from being back to normal, down 6.8 million jobs compared with February 2020. According to the report, 6.2 million people reported that they didn’t work at all or worked less because their employer had been affected by the pandemic.
A tale of two job markets
The unemployment rate stood at 5.9%, up from 5.8% in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
While the labor force participation rate was unchanged at 61.6%, the number of people quitting their jobs voluntarily to look for another…
