The professional and business services sector posted the biggest gains last month, adding 74,000 jobs to the overall 372,000 in new openings, while the unemployment rate of 3.6% remained the same for the fourth month in a row, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday (July 8).
There were 5.9 million people unemployed in June, about the same as the previous month.
Within the professional and business services sector, management positions increased by 12,000, computer systems design and related services went up by 10,000, administrative positions added 8,000 jobs, and scientific research and development services increased by 6,000. The sector has 880,000 more jobs than it did in February 2020.
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Notable gains were also seen in leisure and hospitality, adding 67,000 jobs, with food service and drinking establishment positions up 41,000. The sector is still down by 1.3 million since February 2020.
Healthcare employment added 57,000 jobs in June, with ambulatory services posting 28,000 new positions, hospitals, 21,000, and nursing and residential care facilities, 8,000. Jobs in the healthcare industry are down by 176,000 since February 2020.
“There’s still a lot of pent-up demand for workers,” Julian Richers, the vice president of global economics research at Morgan Stanley, told The Wall Street Journal. “It does make sense that as the economy slows, employment should slow as well, once we’ve worked through the backlog of labor demand.”
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In June, transportation and warehousing added 36,000 jobs, with the sector having 759,000 more jobs than in February 2020. Manufacturing jobs went up 29,000, returning the industry to its February 2020 level.
Information added 25,000, which is 105,000 higher than in February 2020. New jobs include 9,000 all publishing spaces except for the internet.
Average hourly earnings increased by 10 cents, or 0.3%, to $32.08. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 5.1%.
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