Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 372,000 in June, and the unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Notable job gains occurred in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and health care.
New statistics show that both the number of permanent job losers, at 1.3 million in June, and the number of persons on temporary layoff, at 827,000, changed little over the month. For June, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was unchanged at 1.3 million.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for Asians increased to 3% in June. The jobless rates for adult men (3.3%), adult women (3.3%), teenagers (11%), whites (3.3%), Blacks (5.8%), and Hispanics (4.3%) showed little or no change over the month.
In a statement released shortly after the report was published, the small business advocacy organization Main Street Alliance noted, “Black and other marginalized workers continue to experience unacceptable disparities in the labor market. Black and Latina women, in particular, face significant challenges accessing paid leave and the child care they need to be in the labor force.”
