Better Than Expected Job Growth In June
More jobs were created last month than economists had expected, but the unemployment rate held steady.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that employers added 195,000 jobs to public and private payrolls. That's better than the 165,000-gain that forecasters had predicted.
The agency also revised up its estimate of job growth in May — to 195,000 positions, vs. the 175,000 it initially estimate.
But the jobless rate last month was unchanged at 7.6 percent.
We'll have much more from the report and reactions to it as the morning continues. Hit your refresh button to be sure you're seeing our latest updates.
Update at 9:05 a.m. ET. How Will The Federal Reserve React?
Reuters writes that "job growth increased more than expected in June, which could draw the Federal Reserve closer to implementing a plan to start scaling back its massive monetary stimulus later this year."
Update at 8:55 a.m. ET. Sharp Upward Revision In April's Jobs Data:
A month ago, BLS revised down its estimate of the job growth in April. It had initially reported that 165,000 jobs were added to payrolls that month. Then, in its first revision of the data, it said the increase was 149,000. On Friday, it revised the figure again — to a gain of 199,000 jobs.
According to The Wall Street Journal:
"Of course, more revisions are possible. On average, the Labor Department changes its payroll numbers by about 46,000 — up or down — from the time the first estimate comes out until the third estimate is issued two months later, as more complete data comes in."