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June jobs report: US payrolls rose by 57,000, missing expectations
Updated Thu, July 2, 2026 at 9:18 AM EDT1 min read
The US economy added 57,000 jobs last month, fewer than economists had anticipated, government data shows. The unemployment rate dipped slightly to 4.2%, its lowest level in a year.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the Labor Department's employment situation report to post a gain of 113,000 jobs at the year's midway point, with the unemployment rate remaining flat at 4.3% for the fourth consecutive month, after a string of better-than-predicted government data releases and a mixed week for private data.
June 2026 nonfarm payrolls·Yahoo Finance
But employment in leisure and hospitality — which contributed to May's blowout jobs report — fell by 61,000 in June amid "weaker than usual seasonal hiring." The monthly gains were instead driven by professional and business services, social assistance, and healthcare, the Labor Department said, though healthcare employment now appears to be growing more slowly.
Jobs data for April and May was also revised lower by a combined 74,000 positions, according to the data.
The labor force participation rate, meanwhile, slipped to 61.5% in June.
"UGLY jobs report for Jun as payrolls rise just 57k but 2 previous months were revised down combined 74k, a net loss of 17k, while employment level plunges more than half a million as people leave the labor force," E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation and President Trump's onetime nominee to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said on X.
Labor force participation rate, June 2026·Yahoo Finance
Emma Ockerman is a reporter covering the economy and labor for Yahoo Finance. You can reach her at emma.ockerman@yahooinc.com .
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