Source: BLS June jobs report
In June, the United States generated 288,000 new jobs, making it the fifth straight month in which we’ve seen job gains of 200,000+. The positive news continued as the unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage points — dropping from 6.3% to 6.1%, which is the lowest we’ve seen since September 2008. Over the past year, the unemployment rate has declined by 1.4 percentage points and the unemployed persons by 2.3 million.
In May, job growth had continued to over 200,000 new jobs, improving upon March and April’s success. Revised numbers were released in June, showing that both April and May had seen growth of 29,000 more than previously reported. The May payroll number was revised from +217,000 to +224,000 and the April numbers were revised from +282,000 to +304,000.
This month, employment gains were widespread across sectors, and the professional and business services saw the largest increase, with an addition of 67,000 jobs. Temporary help services also continued its upward trend, gaining an average of 2.16 million jobs over the last year.
Employment gains were widespread across sectors with the highest gains led by professional and business services, retail trade and food services and drinking places. Here are some key sector highlights from the BLS “The Employment Situation – June 2014” jobs report:
Professional and Business Services
This industry reported strong job growth in June, with the addition of 67,000 jobs to the economy, up +12,000 from the previous month. Subsectors such as computer systems design and related services added 6,900 jobs (1.76 million total workforce), management and technical consulting created 8,200 jobs (1.22 million total workforce) and temporary help services continued its upward trend generating 10,100 jobs (2.86 million total workforce). In total, 19.22 million Americans were employed within this sector last month.
Retail
Employment in this sector showed a growth spike in June by adding 40,000 jobs to the economy (up +27,500 from the previous month). Total employed in this sector has reached 15.35 million and over the last 12 months employment has grown by 317,000. Within the industry, building material and garden supply stores added 7,600 jobs (1.23 million total workforce), electronics and appliance stores grew by 6,700 jobs (503,000 total workforce), and food and beverage stores added 6,000 jobs (3 million total workforce).
Healthcare
This industry added 33,000 jobs during June, making it the second month of 30,000+ job gains. Within this sector, ambulatory services generated 13,100 jobs (6.66 million total workforce), nursing and residential care facilities grew 5,700 jobs (3.26 million total workforce) and home health services grew 3,500 jobs (1.28 million total workforce). This growth indicates that the healthcare industry is at an all-time high in terms of job availability.
Leisure and Hospitality
This industry is also seeing record-breaking highs in job growth and saw a steady rise in June – generating 39,000 jobs for the second month in a row. The total number of employed in this sector has reached 14.64 million people. Turning to the subsectors, food services and drinking places employment was particularly strong, with gains of 32,800 (10.66 million total workforce), while accommodations gained 2,200 jobs (1.88 million total workforce).
Construction
This sector is seeing a slower level of growth, with only 6,000 new jobs added (6 million total workforce) compared to April’s 32,000 new jobs. Within the sector, heavy and civil engineering saw a decline of 700 jobs (915,700 total workforce) and nonresidential specialty trade contractors also saw a decline of 1,400 jobs (2.13 million total workforce). However, residential building did grow by 4,500 jobs (660,000 total workforce).
Temporary Help Services
This job sub-sector is still on the rise, reporting its 17th consecutive month of job creation in June – with an increase in employment of 10,100. This brings the yearly growth up to 234,100. Since June 2013, this sector has had an average of 2.86 million people employed. We are continuing to see an upward trend as businesses take advantage of temporary staffing solutions for their seasonal workforce needs.
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