A surprisingly strong jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the month of June could point to signs of labor-market strength as the U. S. economic recovery continues.
Two hundred and eighty-eight thousand jobs were added to the U.S. economy and the unemployment rate dropped to 6.1%. The BLS says the job gains were widespread, led by employment growth in professional and business services, retail trade, the food and drinking industry, and health care.
Among the major worker groups the unemployment rates for adult women at 5.3% and blacks at 10.7% declined in June.
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The Bureau also reports, the number of long-term (those who have been jobless for 27 weeks or more) dropped by 293,000 to 3.1 million. They account for 32% of the nation’s unemployed.
The numbers mark the best five-month stretch of job creation since 2006. According to the Wall Street Journal, “A broader gauge of unemployment that includes workers who aren’t currently looking for a job or have given up their searches fell to 7.3% last month from 7.6% in May and the number of long-term unemployed also fell.”