Employment Research Brief

Narrow group of industries dominates June employment gains. Total U.S. employment rose by 147,000 jobs in June as the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1 percent. Private hiring was led by expansions in the education, healthcare, leisure and hospitality sectors, which accounted for over 90 percent of net non-government employment gains. Nearly all other private sectors posted minimal shifts in payrolls as a pullback in hiring continued to typify the majority of industries. Total federal headcount reductions since January rose to 69,000 while a substantial increase in hiring by state and local governments, which added 80,000 positions, made up for a more than 40- percent drop in private employment growth compared to May.