The US unemployment rate fell to a four-year low of 5 per cent in June as the economy added 146,000 payroll jobs, the Labor Department said today.
Payroll growth was 48,000 under the 194,000 expected by economists, but April and May hiring were revised up by a total of 44,000. May's payrolls were revised to 104,000 from 78,000 previously.
Economists had expected the jobless rate to remain at 5.1 per cent. The unemployment rate was last at 5 per cent in September 2001.
Average hourly earnings rose 3 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $16.06 in June, as expected. Earnings are up 2.7 per cent in the past year.
The average workweek was unchanged at 33.7 hours in June. The factory workweek was also unchanged at 40.4 hours. Total hours worked in the economy rose 0.2 per cent.
Among 278 industries, 55 per cent were hiring in June, down from 57 per cent in May. The report shows continued improvement in the labour market. It is not likely to have much impact on the Federal Reserve's deliberations about whether to keep raising interest rates.
The Federal Open Market Committee will have the July employment report in hand when it next meets on August 9th.
In June, the survey of some 400,000 business establishments indicated modest growth of 150,000 jobs in services, while goods-producing industries lost 4,000 jobs, including 24,000 in manufacturing. It was the largest loss of factory jobs since January.
Factory employment has fallen by 96,000 since August. Job losses were concentrated in the auto sector, which lost 18,000 jobs.
Among 84 manufacturing industries, 35.7 per cent were hiring in June, the lowest since October 2003. Construction firms added 18,000 jobs.