Summertime fun began for many in June, while others utilized their time to find employment opportunities. Staff Solve strives to assist employers and job seekers with information and process hiring, but the overall economic picture of employment trends in the United States and possible factors involved. 

Employment rose by 850,000 jobs in June, but had little change for unemployment as the rate was at 5.9 percent. The data is down considerably when compared to last year’s statistics, but are still above their pre-pandemic levels. However, the number of job leavers (those who quit or voluntarily left their previous job to look for new employment) increased by 164,000. Temporary layoffs and permanent job losers experience little change.

Those jobless for 27 weeks or longer increased by 233,000, which accounts for 42.1 percent of the total unemployment rate for June. Those jobless less than 5 weeks experienced little change, as well as the labor force participation rate. People employed part-time for economic reasons decreased by 644,000, which reflects a drop in the number of persons whose hours were cut due to slack work or business conditions. Those not in the labor force but want a job experience little change. 

In June, 14.4 percent of employees teleworked because of the coronavirus pandemic, down from 16.6 percent in the prior month. 6.2 million reported that they had been unable to work because their employer closed or lost business due to the pandemic, which is down from 7.9 million in May. Among those who reported in June that they were unable to work because of pandemic-related closures or lost business, 10.0 percent received at least some pay from their employer for the hours not worked.

Notable job gains in June occurred in leisure and hospitality, public and private education, professional and business services, retail trade, and other services. Employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 343,000, as pandemic-related restrictions continued to ease in some parts of the country. Over half of the job gain was in food services and drinking places (+194,000). Employment also continued to increase in accommodation (+75,000) and in arts, entertainment, and recreation (+74,000). Employment rose by 155,000 in local government education, by 75,000 in state government education, and by 39,000 in private education. In both public and private education, staffing fluctuations due to the pandemic, in part reflecting the return to in-person learning and other school-related activities, have distorted the normal seasonal buildup and layoff patterns, likely contributing to the job gains in June. Professional and business services rose by 72,000, temporary help services (+33,000), advertising and related services (+8,000), scientific research and development services (+7,000), and legal services (+6,000).

Retail trade added 67,000 jobs in June. Over the month, job growth in clothing and clothing accessories stores (+28,000), general merchandise stores (+25,000), miscellaneous store retailers (+13,000), and automobile dealers (+8,000) were partially offset by losses in food and beverage stores (-13,000) and health and personal care stores (-7,000). Other services industries added 56,000 jobs, with gains in personal and laundry services (+29,000), in membership associations and organizations (+18,000), and in repair and maintenance (+9,000). Social assistance rose by 32,000 in June, largely in child day care services (+25,000), wholesale trade added 21,000 jobs with gains in both the durable and nondurable goods components (+14,000 and +9,000).

Employment in mining rose by 10,000, reflecting a gain in support activities for mining. Manufacturing changed little (+15,000). Within the industry, job gains in furniture and related products (+9,000), fabricated metal products (+6,000), and primary metals (+3,000) were partially offset by a loss in motor vehicles and parts (-12,000). Transportation and warehousing was little changed (+11,000), while gains were seen in warehousing and storage (+14,000), air transportation (+8,000), and truck transportation (+6,000), A partial loss was noted in couriers and messengers (-24,000). Construction employment decreased a little (-7,000). Over-the-month job losses in nonresidential specialty trade contractors (-15,000) and heavy and civil engineering construction (-11,000) were partially offset by a gain in residential specialty trade contractors (+13,000). In June, employment showed little change in other major industries, including information, financial activities, and health care.

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 10 cents to $30.40. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 10 cents to $25.68 in June.

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