News Flash

Published on July 2, 2026 at 8:54 AM

The U.S. economy added 57,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in June 2026, while the unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.2%, according to the latest report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

June 2026 Employment Snapshot

The report shows a sharp deceleration in hiring, missing economic expectations, though a drop in labor force participation nudged the headline unemployment rate lower. 

  • Nonfarm Payrolls: +57,000 jobs (vs. ~110,000 to 115,000 forecast).
  • Unemployment Rate: 4.2% (vs. 4.3% expected and 4.3% in May).
  • May Revisions: May’s job gains were downwardly revised from 172,000 to 129,000.
  • Labor Force Participation Rate: Decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 61.5%.
  • Average Hourly Earnings: Rose 0.3% month-over-month (+$0.13 to $37.64), matching forecasts. 

Industry Winners and Losers

Job creation concentrated in a few specific sectors while others experienced cuts: 

  • Gains: Professional and business services, social assistance, and health care.
  • Losses: Leisure and hospitality saw a contraction in jobs.

Core Definitions

The monthly data is generated from two different surveys: 

  • Nonfarm Payrolls: Measures the net change in jobs from an establishment survey covering roughly 80% of U.S. workers, excluding farm laborers, private household employees, and the self-employed.
  • Unemployment Rate: Measures the percentage of the active labor force that is jobless but actively looking for work, calculated via a separate household survey. 

If you want, I can provide more details about this report. Would you like me to:

  • Show historical payroll trends for comparison
  • Explain the Federal Reserve's response to this data
  • Break down wage growth and hours worked details

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