WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Joint Economic Committee released its Monthly Employment Update. In June, 57,000 jobs were added (49K private sector, 8K government), well off expectations. However, at the same time, the unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 4.2 percent while the labor force participation rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 61.5 percent. The broadest measure of unemployment (U-6, which adds underemployment to unemployment) decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 7.9 percent.

Revised numbers from May show 43,000 fewer jobs than initially reported, dropping to a revised increase of 129,000 from 172,000 initially reported. April's final revision ended up 33,000 above initial reports for an overall gain of 148,000 jobs.

From May to June, the best performing sectors were private education and health services (+69K) and professional and business services (+36K) while the worst performing sectors were leisure and hospitality (-61K) and information (-9K).

From June 2025 to June 2026, the best performing sectors were private education and health services (+648K) and leisure and hospitality (+114K) while the worst performing sectors were federal government (-258K) and financial activities (-100K).

Year over year, for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, average nominal weekly earnings increased by 3.82 percent while average nominal hourly earnings increased by 3.52 percent. For production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls, average nominal weekly earnings increased by 3.73 percent while average nominal hourly earnings increased by 3.42 percent.

Job openings, a measure of labor demand, increased by 9,000 from April to May. The total number of nonfarm job openings was 7.59 million, and the rate remained unchanged at 4.6 percent. The best performing sectors were leisure and hospitality (+95K) and trade, transportation, and utilities (+37K). The worst performing sectors were private education and health services (-119K) and other services (-54K).

For the full Employment update and to see more details on the employment situation in each state, visit: https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/employment-update

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