The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the non-farm payroll report for June 2024 today. The report shows that the number of non-farm payroll employment increased by 0.206 million people in June, and the unemployment rate was 4.1%, with little change. Employment opportunities in government, healthcare, social assistance, and construction industries have increased.

The statistical data provided in this report comes from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment rate, in a demographic way, while the establishment survey mainly measures non-farm employment, working hours, and wage levels by industry.

Household survey data

In June, the unemployment rate was 4.1%, the number of unemployed was 6.8 million, with little change. These indicators were higher than a year ago, when the unemployment rate was 3.6% and the number of unemployed was 6 million.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult women (3.7%) and Asians (4.1%) rose in June. Unemployment rates for adult men (3.8%), teenagers (12.1%), whites (3.5%), Blacks (6.3%), and Hispanics (4.9%) remained largely unchanged for this month.

The number of long-term unemployed (27 weeks and over) increased by 0.166 million in June, reaching 1.5 million. This number was higher than 1.1 million a year ago. Long-term unemployed accounted for 22.2% of all unemployment in June.

The labor force participation rate in June was little changed at 62.6%, and the employment-population ratio held at 60.1%. These indicators show little change over the year.

In June, there were 4.2 million persons who were employed part time for economic reasons, little change. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.

In June, the number of people who wanted to work but were not in the labor force decreased by 0.483 million to 5.2 million. These people are not classified as unemployed because they had not actively searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

In June, there was little change in the number of marginally attached workers, at 1.5 million. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, declined by a small amount to 0.365 million.

Establishment survey data

The total non-farm payroll employment increased by 0.206 million in June, similar to the average monthly increase of 0.22 million over the prior 12 months. Employment opportunities in government, healthcare, social assistance, and construction industries have increased in June.

Government employment increased by 0.07 million in June, higher than the average monthly increase of 0.049 million over the prior 12 months. Local government employment increased this month, not including education (+0.034 million) and state government (+0.026 million).

The healthcare industry added 0.049 million new jobs in June, lower than the average monthly increase of 0.064 million over the prior 12 months. Employment in ambulatory healthcare services (+0.022 million) and hospitals (+0.022 million) increased this month.

Social assistance employment increased by 0.034 million in June, mainly in individual and family services (+0.026 million). Over the past 12 months, social assistance has added an average of 0.022 million jobs per month.

The construction industry added 0.027 million jobs in June, higher than the average monthly increase of 0.02 million jobs over the prior 12 months.

After rising earlier this year, retail trade employment changed little in June (-9,000). Employment declines in furniture and home furnishings stores; electronics and appliance stores; and miscellaneous store retailers (-6,000) were partially offset by gains in warehouse clubs and supercenters and other general merchandise stores (+5,000).

Employment in professional and business services showed little change in June (-0.017 million), with little change over the year. Temporary help services lost 0.049 million jobs this month and have lost 0.515 million jobs since reaching a peak in March 2022. Employment in professional, scientific, and technical services continued to trend up in June (+0.024 million).

In June, employment changes in other major industries were not significant, including mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, leisure and hospitality, and other services.

In June, the average hourly wage for all private non-farm employment rose by 10 cents, or 0.3%, to $35.00. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.9%. In June, the average hourly wage for production and non-supervisory employees in the private sector rose by 10 cents, or 0.3%, to $30.05.

In June, the average weekly hours worked by private non-farm employees remained at 34.3 hours for the third consecutive month. In manufacturing, average weekly hours worked remained unchanged at 40.2 hours, with overtime hours remaining at 3.0 hours. The average weekly hours worked by production and non-supervisory employees in the private non-farm workforce fell slightly by 0.1 hours to 33.7 hours.

The change in total non-farm employment in April was revised down by 57,000, from an increase of 165,000 to an increase of 108,000, and the change in May was revised down by 54,000, from an increase of 272,000 to an increase of 218,000. After these revisions, employment in April and May combined was 111,000 lower than previously reported.