Economy News

US adds just 57,000 jobs in June as hospitality sheds roles despite the World Cup

US employers added 57,000 jobs in June, about half of what economists had predicted, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report released on Thursday 2 July. The Guardian reports that the bureau also revised the previous two months down by a total of 74,000: May to 129,000 from 172,000, and April to 148,000 from 179,000. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.2% from 4.3%.

The surprise was in leisure and hospitality, which lost 61,000 jobs just as the US was hosting World Cup matches. Al Jazeera notes that Goldman Sachs had forecast the tournament would add 40,000 jobs in June. Gains came mainly from professional and business services (36,000), social assistance (25,000) and healthcare (22,000).

“For now, the overall effect is a slowdown in job creation.” — Nela Richardson, ADP, via Al Jazeera

Markets shrugged: Al Jazeera reports the Dow rose 0.8% and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 0.6% after the open, while gold jumped 2% as traders bet the Federal Reserve may not hike rates soon.

How each outlet framed it

• The Guardian — a relatively strong market despite the miss: hiring averaged about 111,000 a month over three months, and the economy remains in “low hire, low fire” mode, with the Fed likely to keep its focus on inflation, which hit a three-year high of 4.2% in May.
• Al Jazeera — the weakness underneath: labour force participation fell 0.3 points to 61.5%, its lowest since March 2021, and the share of Americans saying jobs are “hard to get” jumped in the Conference Board survey.

Where the numbers differ: both cite ADP's private payroll count of 98,000, well above the official 57,000. The Guardian adds that 720,000 people left the labour force, which helps explain why unemployment fell even as hiring slowed.