The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in June


The Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest report shows that the U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in June, dropping the unemployment rate to 5.3 percent.
Unfortunately, job gains in April were revised down, from 221,000 to 187,000. May was revised down as well, from 280,000 to 254,000. That brings the average gain over the past three months to 221,000. But the 2008 collapse blew a very big hole in the economy; to close it by the summer of 2017 the economy needs to be averaging 246,000 jobs added a month.
Labor force participation also fell slightly, by 0.3 percent. That probably accounts for much of the drop in the unemployment rate, since it compares the number of people with a job to the number of people in the labor force (i.e. actively looking for work).
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Average hourly earnings rose just 2 percent, dropping back from a 2.3 percent gain last month. So the trend in wage growth is still effectively flat.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.
-
‘How can I know these words originated in their heart and not some data center in northern Virginia?’
instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Can Trump deliver a farmer bailout in time?
Today's Big Question Planting decisions, food prices in the balance
-
Tips for seizing control of your digital well-being
The Week Recommends A handy mix of technology and self-motivation
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial unease
Speed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B deal
speed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance