The U.S. economy may be slowing – the government said first-quarter growth slowed 0.5 percent – but for the moment, at least, it doesn’t seem to be affecting the job market.
Accordig to the Labor Department, the U.S. added 147,000 jobs in June, a number the department said is slightly above the average monthly gain (146,000) over the last year.
Job growth was stronger than expected in June, CBS News reported Thursday. Payroll gains were higher than the 115,000 predicted by economists polled by financial data firm FactSet.
The unemployment rate dropped slightly, to 4.1% from 4.2% in May, the lowest since February. The rate came in below economists’ forecast of 4.3%, according to FactSet.
“Today’s stronger jobs report confirms a still resilient U.S. labor market, defying, at least for now, the signs of weakness seen in some leading indicators,” Simon Dangoor, head of fixed income macro strategies at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said in a research note, according to CBS.
The Federal Reserve has been slow to consider interest rate cuts, and the network reports a rate reduction is unlikely considering the solid job numbers, experts say. At its most recent meeting, the central bank indicated an inclination toward two rate cuts for the remainder of the year.
Bret Kenwell, an investment analyst at eToro, told CBS the better-than-expected job numbers “could lead to a relief rally for U.S. stocks.
