US employers added a solid 132,000 new jobs in June and boosted payrolls more strongly than previously thought in April and May, according to a Labor Department report.
The June hiring figure topped forecasts for 120,000 jobs made by Wall Street economists surveyed by Reuters.
Additionally, the government said some 75,000 more jobs than it previously estimated were created in April and May - a surprisingly solid pace of hiring throughout the second quarter that signals a pickup in the pace of economic growth after a first-quarter lull.
The jobs report provoked strong reaction in financial markets, driving US Treasury debt prices down as investors bet it meant the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates this year.
Stock futures prices suffered in turn as Treasury bond yields, which move inversely to prices, climbed.
The Labor Department revised its estimate for May job growth up to 190,000 from a previously reported 157,000 and said there were 122,000 new jobs in April instead of the 80,000 it previously estimated.
Analysts said the healthy pace of hiring implied that national economic activity measured by GDP rebounded in the second quarter, possibly to a pace exceeding 3 per cent a year.
Overtime hours and the average work week both increased in June, which keeps concern about inflation pressures in tightening labour markets on the burner. The national unemployment rate was 4.5 per cent in June, unchanged from May.
All the hiring came in service industries during June. There were 135,000 new jobs in the service sector - including in health services, hospitality businesses and government.
The goods-producing sector shed 3,000 jobs. There were 18,000 fewer jobs in manufacturing businesses in June, on top of 7,000 lost in May.