Junes jobs reports shows economy adds a historic 4.8 million jobs, 8100 in trucking

The jobless rate fell to 11.1% in June, the Department of Labor announced on Thursday. Last month, the economy added 4.8 million jobs. In May, 2.7 million jobs were added, bringing the unemployment rate to 13.3%. Prior to March, the jobless rate hovered around 3.5%, (a fifty year low), before skyrocketing to 14.7% in April.

Leisure and hospitality saw the biggest gain. Over 2 million positions were added. Manufacturing roles expanded by 356,000. Retail jobs grew by 740,000. Transportation and warehousing added 99,000 positions. Average hourly earnings declined by 1.2%, indicating that more lower wage workers are coming back to work.

In a separate report, the Labor Department stated that weekly unemployment applications fell slightly. There were 1.43 million new claims at the end of last week, down from 1.48 million in the week prior. New applications peaked at 7 million in the last week of March, but the latest data suggests that new claims are stabilizing. Even as some businesses are getting back on their feet, others are still having to lay off workers. There’s still a long slog ahead.

Because of the timing of data collection, the June unemployment report does not account for the recent bump in coronavirus cases. An uptick in cases towards the end of the month forced some states to reconsider reopening. To date, Texas, Florida, and New York City have rolled back reopening for bars and restaurants. 

590,000 layoffs became permanent last month, bringing total permanent job losses to 2.9 million. 

The new unemployment figures come at a time when Congress is preparing to possibly negotiate more stimulus spending. As the coronavirus forced shutdowns across the United States, the government spent $3 trillion in stimulus funding. This included PPP loans, an extra $600 per week in unemployment benefits, and a $1200 stimulus check. Most of this is running out – the stimulus checks were a one time deal, and the extra $600 expires at the end of July.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the economy entered into a recession in February. Some analysts believe that the recovery began in May, but that it will likely be long and slow.