· Total non-farm payroll employment rose 213 thousand in June, following an increase of 223 thousand in the previous month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Private-sector payrolls increased by 202 thousand in May, while government employment increased by 11 thousand.
· The unemployment rate edged up to 4.0% in June, from 3.8% in May.
· The labor force participation rate edged up by 0.2 percentage point to 62.9% in June.
· The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls held steady at 34.5 hours in June.
· In June, average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased 0.3%. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings were up 2.7%.
· The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance increased 3 thousand to 231 thousand in the week ending June 30. The 4-week moving average was 224.5 thousand, an increase of 2.5 thousand from the previous week’s average.
· In May, international trade deficit in goods and services was $43.1 billion, down $3.1 billion from April.