The U.S. economy added 287,000 jobs in June

Hiring picked up in June. — (Image credit: Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

The federal nonfarm payrolls report released today showed that U.S. employers added 287,000 jobs in June, far exceeding economists' expectations and suggesting the economy had rebounded after May's disappointing employment numbers. Economists had predicted an increase of 170,000 jobs, with the gains partly due to Verizon employees returning to work after being out on strike in May. The unemployment rate increased to 4.9 percent from 4.7 percent, because more Americans returned to the labor force to look for work. U.S. stock futures surged on the news.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.