Assembly line worker Lashunta Harris applies the Ford logo on a 2024 Ford F-150 truck being assembled at the Dearborn Truck Plant, April 11, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich. On Friday, June 5, 2024, the U.S. government issues its June jobs report.
Still, Friday’s report from the Labor Department contained several signs of a slowing job market. The unemployment rate ticked up from 4% to 4.1%, a still-low number but the highest rate since November 2021. The rate rose in large part because 277,000 people began looking for work in June, and not all of them found jobs right away.
Economists also noted that job growth from April through June averaged 177,000, a decent figure but still the lowest three-month average since January 2021.“Both May and June hiring was above 200,000 even after revisions, and the trajectory looks stable,” said Eric Winograd, U.S. economist at AllianceBernstein. “The best available evidence is that the labor market remains strong and that any deceleration remains modest.