June Employment Report: 372 thousand Jobs, 3.6% Unemployment Rate

From the BLS:

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 372,000 in June, and the unemployment rate remained at 3.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Notable job gains occurred in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and health care.

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for April was revised down by 68,000, from +436,000 to +368,000, and the change for May was revised down by 6,000, from +390,000 to +384,000. With these revisions, employment in April and May combined is 74,000 lower than previously reported.
emphasis added

Employment Recessions, Scariest Job ChartClick on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows the job losses from the start of the employment recession, in percentage terms.

The current employment recession was by far the worst recession since WWII in percentage terms.

However, 28 months after the onset of the current employment recession, almost all of the jobs have returned.

Year-over-year change employmentThe second graph shows the year-over-year change in total non-farm employment since 1968.

In June, the year-over-year change was 6.3 million jobs.  This was up significantly year-over-year.

Total payrolls increased by 372 thousand in June.  Private payrolls increased by 381 thousand, and public payrolls decreased 9 thousand.

Payrolls for April and May were revised down 74 thousand, combined.

The third graph shows the employment population ratio and the participation rate.

Employment Pop Ratio and participation rateThe Labor Force Participation Rate decreased to 62.2% in June, from 62.3% in May. This is the percentage of the working age population in the labor force.

The Employment-Population ratio decreased to 59.9% from 60.1% (blue line).

I’ll post the 25 to 54 age group employment-population ratio graph later.

unemployment rateThe fourth graph shows the unemployment rate.

The unemployment rate was unchanged in June at 3.6% from 3.6% in May.

This was above consensus expectations; however, April and May payrolls were revised down by 74,000 combined.  

I’ll have more later …