June Job Growth Seen Calmer! The Fed's Follow-up Is A Question Mark

<p>&nbsp;Job growth eased in June, the labor force was slightly calmer than before which is often adjusted to a very strong labor market.</p><p><br /></p><p>The NFP reading rose 209,000 in June and the unemployment rate was 3.6% based on Friday's Labor report. It also fell short of the Dow Jones consensus estimate for growth of 240,000 and an unemployment rate of 3.6%.</p><p><br /></p><p>The number, while still strong from a historical perspective, marked a significant drop from May's downwardly revised total of 306,000 and was the slowest month for job creation since the NFP data fell by 268,000 in December 2020.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The closely watched payroll was slightly stronger than expected. Average hourly earnings increased by 0.4% for the month and 4.4% from a year ago.</p><p><br /></p><p>Job growth would have been slower without an increase in government jobs, which increased by 60,000, almost all of which came from the state and local levels. Other sectors showing strong gains were health care (41,000), social assistance (24,000) and construction (23,000).</p><p><br /></p><p>Recreation and hospitality, which has been the strongest driver of job growth over the past three years, added just 21,000 jobs for the month. The sector has eased significantly, showing only muted gains over the past three months.</p><p><br /></p><p>The retail sector lost 11,000 jobs in June while transport and warehousing saw a decline of 7,000.</p>