June payrolls grow by 57,000 as labor force exits push unemployment rate to 4.2%
The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment benefits fell to 208,000 for the week ending July 11, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The weekly filings, considered a proxy for layoffs, dropped 8,000 from the prior week and came in well below the 219,000 forecast by analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet. The decline pushed claims to a 10-week low, signaling that layoffs remain historically low even as June hiring pulled back.
In a more comprehensive monthly report released earlier this month, the Labor Department said employers added 57,000 jobs in June — less than half the prior month’s total. The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% from 4.3%, but the decline was largely because many out-of-work people gave up looking for jobs and were no longer counted as unemployed.
The reduced hiring in June came after a relative surge in job gains over the previous three months, a stretch that had counteracted concerns that the war in Iran could affect the labor market.