US non-farm payroll numbers: Country added 287,000 jobs in June in turnaround from shock May figures
The US added 287,000 jobs in June, driven by the leisure and hospitality and healthcare and social assistance sectors.
The non-farm payroll data released today is a marked turnaround from the numbers published last month, which showed US employers added just 38,000 jobs in May. The greenback crashed after the May data, which showed the weakest jobs growth in six years, was released.
May's numbers put a dent in expectations that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates soon – and despite a more positive showing in June, the Fed is still likely to delay a rate hike, given the uncertainty around Brexit.
The addition of 287,000 new jobs is the largest gain since last October, the US Labor Department said.
Around 16,000 jobs in financial activities were added in June – taking the total number of jobs added over the year to 163,000.
The mining sector continued to see a decline, with 6,000 roles lost in June. The Labor Department said that since reaching a peak in September 2014, mining has lost 211,000 jobs.
Surging numbers of people joining the workforce pushed the unemployment rate up by two tenths of a percentage point.
Tepid wage growth struck the only sour note among an otherwise positive set of figures. Average hourly earnings increased only two cents or 0.1 per cent in June, while the year-on-year gain in earnings rose to 2.6 per cent after advancing 2.5 per cent in May.
“It has been a month of huge shocks for the global economy, but what you can hear now is a massive sigh of relief from the markets," said Dennis de Jong, managing director of UFX.com.
"The disastrous May nonfarm payroll reading followed by Brexit were very painful yet there is now a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.
“Although the Federal Reserve will take encouragement from this vital data, they simply aren’t in a position to consider a rate hike at the moment. There is still huge uncertainty around the world, but the US economy has at least taken a step in the right direction here.”