According to the monthly employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the United States added 209,000 jobs in June, which was down from a downwardly revised 306,000 jobs in May and somewhat below estimates for 230,000 jobs.Originally, 339,000 jobs were added in May.Contrary to forecasts, the jobless rate decreased to 3.6% in June from 3.7% in May.In the moments following the publication of the article, the price of bitcoin (BTC) increased slightly to $30.250.
The announcement follows the ADP’s shocking jobs report for June, which saw 497,000 jobs added versus the 220,000 predicted, dramatically raising interest rates and sending bitcoin plunging by roughly $1,000, or more than 3%.This morning’s employment data is noteworthy for ending an extraordinary string of 14 consecutive months of exceeding forecasts, despite having only a little headline miss.Examining the report’s specifics, we see that the labor force participation rate remained constant at 62.6% for the fourth consecutive month.In June, average hourly wages increased by 0.4%, exceeding expectations of 0.3%.Average hourly earnings increased annually by 4.4%, which was above expectations of 4.2% but unchanged from May.
The number of jobs added in May was revised downward by 33,000, while the number of jobs added in April was reduced downward by 77,000 to 217,000.The April and May figures were reduced by 110,000 jobs overall due to revisions.Even though there is still a ton of economic data to come in July, today’s report is the final one on national employment before the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision meeting in late July.Prior to these most recent figures, markets were nearly certain that the central bank will resume raising interest rates at that meeting.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) data shows that while inflation is currently 4.0%, it peaked at 9.1% in 2022, much beyond the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.Furthermore, the core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, has been more resistant, with its current rate of 5.3% being much more gently down from its peak of 6.6% last year.To date, the jobs situation has remained positive despite the central bank’s apparent opinion that a more sluggish employment picture is required to bring inflation under control.It remains to be seen if today’s weaker payroll figures signal the start of a trend.