What To Look For In The June 2023 Jobs Report

The US labor market cooled off in June, adding just 209,000 jobs and fueling optimism that the economy is on course to nail that elusive soft landing of lowering inflation without triggering a recession.

The June job gains, was just about 100K below May's 306K number, and fell below economists' predictions for 225K. June also saw the lowest monthly gain since a decline in December 2020, but that being said, last month’s job growth still outpaces the pre-pandemic average.

Is that good news?

"The job growth is slowing, but I don’t actually think that’s necessarily a bad thing,” said Rucha Vankudre, senior economist for labor market analytics company Lightcast.

Another big number to focus on was the unemployment rate ticking down to 3.6% (from 3.7%). Meaning that US employers have been adding jobs now for 30 consecutive months.

“In the tug of war between the labor market and the economy, there is still a push and pull, yet the labor market remains strong,” Becky Frankiewicz, president and chief commercial officer of ManpowerGroup.

Here are Chris Yee's takeaways:

1. America saw a gain of 209,000 jobs last month
2. Unemployment dropped from 3.7% to 3.6%
3. It's likely the Fed will raise interest rates later this month
4. Even in light of this year's headwinds, our economy is "durable"

What do you think about the current state of our economy/jobs report? Get ready to hear all about it on the next episode of Zenith Search Partners Podcast.