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Data from June show hiring in the U.S. economy, though average gains over the first six months of the year were below year-ago levels, the Labor Department reported Friday. File photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI |
License PhotoJuly 7 (UPI) — Data from the U.S. Labor Department showed hiring increased in June, though gains over the first six months of the year were lower than the average for 2022.
The Labor Department on Friday reported that total non-farm payrolls increased by 209,000 last month, supported by new hires in government, healthcare and construction. New hires should be a concern for a Federal Reserve working to slow the economy through successive rate hikes, though long-term data show the Fed’s policy may be starting to work as intended.
For the first half of 2023, non-farm employment grew by an average of 278,000 per month, a decline from the monthly average of 399,000 jobs in 2022, the Labor Department said.
President Joe Biden, who has been pushing his administration’s economic policy that he has dubbed “Bidenomics,” said in a statement that Friday’s data showed that his plan was “in action” with a total of 13.2 million jobs added since he took office in 2021.
“That’s Bidenomics — growing the economy by creating jobs, lowering costs for hardworking families and making smart investments in America,” he said.
The unemployment rate of 3.6% changed little month-on-month to June, though the number of people working part-time increased due to “slack work or business conditions.”
Hiring levels reported by the Labor Department were about half what private payroll processor ADP reported for June. Nela Richardson, the chief economist at ADP, said that wage growth, however, was lackluster and hiring may have peaked.
Other metrics support Richardson’s view. The Jobs Opening and Labor Turnover Summary, or JOLTS, showed that U.S. job openings declined by 496,000 in May after they increased to 10.2 million in April.
Conversely, the JOLTS report found that job separations increased overall as quits, which serve as a barometer to gauge the willingness or ability to leave a job, increased by 250,000 to 4 million.
Lorie Logan, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, expressed concern on Thursday that new hires were nevertheless outpacing expectations. New job openings, she said, are far above pre-pandemic levels and layoffs remain low.
“There is no indication of an abrupt deterioration in labor market conditions,” she said.
That would support testimony last month from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who said at least two more rate hikes may be necessary this year to slow the U.S. economy.
“To put it concisely, I remain very concerned about whether inflation will return to target in a sustainable and timely way,” Logan added. “And I think more-restrictive monetary policy will be needed to achieve the Federal Open Market Committee’s goals of stable prices and maximum employment.”
