Economy added 372,000 jobs in June, unemployment steady at 3.6%
by Zachary Halaschak, Economics Reporter |
| July 08, 2022 08:31 AM
The economy beat expectations and added 372,000 jobs in June, an encouraging sign for the labor market’s resiliency as the Federal Reserve tries to bring down inflation by raising interest rates.
The strong report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday morning follows several months of robust job gains, which is some positive economic news that President Joe Biden has touted even as historic inflation cuts deeply into the paychecks of people across the country.
The unemployment rate also remained at 3.6% in June, matching the ultralow level it was at right before the coronavirus pandemic struck.
“It is a positive report, but it just is one piece in the intricate web of data that we’re going to be watching over the next couple of weeks. Certainly this data could suggest the Fed’s going to, more likely than not, continue along its path,” Brian Marks, executive director of the University of New Haven's entrepreneurship and innovation program, told the Washington Examiner shortly after the numbers were released.
After the Federal Reserve hiked its interest rate target by a quarter percentage point in March, it later jacked up rates by half a percentage point and then last month took its most aggressive rate hike since 1994 and raised the federal funds rate by three-fourths of a percentage point — a move than is analogous to three rate hikes at once.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/economy-added-372-000-jobs-in-june-unemployment-steady-at-3-6
