June jobs report beats expectations. FOX Business’ Cheryl Casone with more.
The U.S. reported strong job growth in June, but the total number of employed Americans remained below its pre-pandemic level, federal data showed.
Employers added a more-than-expected 372,000 jobs last month, while the U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.6 percent, the Labor Department said Friday morning. The job gains brought the total number of U.S. workers to nearly 152 million, slightly below the pre-pandemic level of 152.5 million recorded in February 2020, according to a Federal Reserve database.
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“The historic strength of our labor market is one of the reasons our economy is uniquely well-positioned to address a range of global economic challenges, from global inflation to the economic fallout from Putin’s war,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “No country is in a better position than America to reduce inflation without giving up all the economic gains we’ve made over the past 18 months.
President Biden says the June jobs report shows the economy is “uniquely well-positioned to address a range of global economic challenges,” ranging from global inflation to “the fallout from Putin’s war.” (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Biden noted that the report shows that private sector jobs are returning to pre-pandemic levels. He added that the coming months would see slower job growth, but that would not be “a bad thing.”
Still, Republicans and some business groups criticized the president after Friday’s report on inflation, which continues to hit consumers across the country. Inflation jumped 8.6 percent year-on-year in May, the biggest jump since late 1981, the latest data showed.
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“President Biden’s press secretary tried to make the case yesterday that we’re in better economic shape than ever, yet higher prices continue to hit everyone,” Congressman Brian Steele, R-Wis., ranking member of the Select Committee on economy of the House of Representatives, Fox News Digital said in a statement. “The White House remains out of touch and the American people are paying the price.”
Potomac Wealth Advisors founder and president Mark Avalone says the Federal Reserve has a “dual mandate” to moderate inflation and keep employment strong.
Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of the Job Creators Network, said “it’s clear the economy is in bad shape” based on the report, despite the big top-line number. It noted slowing wage growth and a low level of labor force participation.
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“The unemployment rate of 3.6 percent is misleading — it excludes those who can and should be working but have dropped out of the labor force,” Ortiz said in a statement. “We’re also experiencing the lowest consumer sentiment on record.”
“The cause of this disaster is clear: President Biden’s policies, especially his record spending growth, which is causing the worst inflation in four decades,” he continued.
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