The employment situation for June 2016

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 287,000 in June, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.9%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Job growth occurred in leisure and hospitality, health care and social assistance, and financial activities. Employment also increased in information, mostly reflecting the return of workers from a strike. Household Survey Data The unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage point to 4.9% in June, and the number of unemployed persons increased by 347,000 to 7.8 million. These increases largely offset declines in May and brought both measures back in line with levels that had prevailed from August 2015 to April.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult women (4.5%) and Whites (4.4%) rose in June. The rates for adult men (4.5%), teenagers (16.0%), Blacks (8.6%), Asians (3.5%), and Hispanics (5.8%) showed little or no change. The number of persons unemployed less than 5 weeks increased by 211,000 in June, following a decrease in the prior month. At 2.0 million, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little in June and accounted for 25.8% of the unemployed.

In June, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs rose by 203,000 to 3.8 million, after a decline in May.

Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.7%, and the employment-population ratio, at 59.6%, changed little in June.  The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) decreased by 587,000 to 5.8 million in June, offsetting an increase in May. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. 

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