July 2023 Jobs Report Recap
Posted by Melissa Meunier on Mon, Jul 17, 2023 @ 03:00 PM

We are back with the latest jobs data! Employment growth eased in June and came in below expectations. While historically, +209K new jobs added is a strong gain, it’s the slowest month for job creation since December 2020. Overall, the job market remains strong, but it is cooling and getting back to balanced.

The Numbers*:

  • The unemployment rate decreased  to 3.6% and jobless level rose to 6.9%.
  • 209,000 jobs were added in June, less than the 225,000 estimate.
  • Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% in the month of May. Annual wage growth rose by 0.1%, up 4.4% from a year ago. 
  • The number of job openings decreased to 9.8M (-496,000), offsetting the gains in April.
  • The number of hires and total separations in changed little at 6.2M and 5.9M respectively. 
    • Within the separations, quits (4M) increased.
    • Layoffs and discharges (1.6M) saw little change.
  • The labor force participation rate remained unchanged for the 4th consecutive month, holding steady at 62.6%, still below the pre-pandemic level.

Industry Trends:

  • Government hiring led in job gains (60,000, primarily at the state and local levels), followed by health care (41,000), social assistance (24,000) and construction (23,000).
  • Leisure & Hospitality, which has seen the strongest growth overall over the last three years, added just 11,000 jobs.
  • Transportation and Warehousing declined by 7,000.
  • The largest decreases in job openings were in health care and social assistance (-285,000); finance and insurance (-139,000); and other services (-74,000).

Interesting Changes:

  • The rapid pace of the post-pandemic jobs market is slowing, but it is still outpacing pre-pandemic growth averages.
  • US employers have now added jobs for 30 consecutive months.
  • The prime age participation rate (between 25 and 54 years of age) rose to 83.5%. The highest in 21 years.
  • The participation rate for women between 25 and 54 continued to climb and further break records, reaching an all-time high of 77.8%.
  • The balancing of the market could be a strong indicator of hope for a soft landing, rather than recession. But there are also some warning signs including:
    • Those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons again edged higher to 6.9%.
    • Blacks and Asians saw an increase in unemployment with a rise of 0.4% to 6% and 0.3% to 3.2% respectively.

Get the latest Jobs Report:

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* Above represents June 2023 Data

Sources:

Topics: Labor Market

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