The Labor Department reported Friday that the economy added 222,000 nonfarm jobs in June, exceeding an average forecast of 180,000 new jobs in a MarketWatch survey of economists. Also, May's gains, initially reported at 138,000, were adjusted up to 152,000. The unemployment rate edged up from 4.3 percent, a 16-year low, to 4.4 percent as more people entered the labor force looking for work. Economists said before the report was released that any sign of continued strong hiring would provide support for the Federal Reserve officials' plans to start reducing the central bank's $4.2 trillion portfolio of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, which it bought up to boost the economic recovery following the Great Recession.
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