The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.2% in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.
Still, nonfarm payroll employment grew by 80,000 jobs in June. Overall, the number of unemployed Americans – roughly 12.7 million – stayed the same.
Paul Dales, senior economist with Capital Economics, said, “The 80,000 rise in U.S. payroll employment in June provides further evidence that the U.S. economy has lost momentum since the turn of the year, but that the recovery is not yet in danger of grinding to a complete halt. The 80,000 gain compared with increases of 77,000 in May and 68,000 in April. Jobs growth has therefore stabilised at rate much slower than the average gain of 226,000 seen in the three months to March.”
The data shows many workers are discouraged – or displaced employees who are not looking for work – because they believe there are no jobs available for their skill sets, the Labor Department said. Overall, there were 821,000 discouraged workers in June, a decline of 161,000 from a year earlier.
“The remaining 1.7 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in June had not searched for work in the four weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities,” the Labor Bureau said.
The professional and business services segment added 47,000 jobs in June with temporary help accounting for 25,000 of those jobs. Management and technical consulting services added 9,000 jobs while computer system design and related services added 7,000 jobs.
The health care sector continued to add positions, with the segment producing 13,000 new jobs.
Jobs data from the ADP National Employment Report released a more optimistic report Thursday, saying the private sector added 176,000 jobs from May to June. Meanwhile, unemployment insurance claims declined, according to government data.
While the more optimistic report kept the market from a negative reaction, the overall U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged in June.
