Read about the latest US BLS July Jobs Report at LHH

June Jobs Report: A Helpful Overview

Each month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases their “Employment Situation Summary,” or what is commonly referred to as the “Jobs Report.”

The BLS is “the principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economic and statistics,” and their Jobs Report provides a highly detailed analysis of job growth or losses and other labor force statistics across many industries.

There are a lot of details in the BLS report, but, each month, we bring you a high-level overview that includes a look at leading and lagging professional industries, as well as our take on the report from our unique perspective as experts in workforce management.

June Jobs Report: A Quick Summary

Employers added 209,000 jobs in June, the lowest figure since the labor market began its streak of 30 consecutive months of job gains. Additionally, unlike in previous months, those 209,000 jobs added are less than economists’ initial projections of 240,000.

Yes, 31,000 fewer jobs than expected is a bit of a big deal, however, there were some silver linings. The unemployment rate remained near a 60-year low, dropping by 0.1% to 3.6%, and average hourly earnings increased 0.4% in June. In addition, the average work week edged back up 0.1 hours after a loss of the same amount in May.

The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 62.6%. While this a decent number, and one that has held steady for four consecutive months, it remains slightly below the pre-pandemic level of 63.3% (February 2020).

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons—individuals who 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 job—rose by 452,000 to 4.2 million in June.

While growth in the job market seems to be slowing, it is still relatively steady. However, many experts still anticipate a looming recession due to high inflation and rising interest rates—although projections on timing and level of severity differ.

Let’s take a closer look at the numbers from an industry and a regional perspective.

Leading and Lagging Industries Here’s a quick breakdown of leading and lagging industries based on month-over-month job gains.

Leading Industries: In June, growth was especially strong last month in the government (+60,000), health care (+41,000), and construction (+23,000) sectors.

While government employment is still below its pre-pandemic level by 161,000 jobs, the sector has added an average of 63,000 jobs per month in 2023, which is way ahead of its average monthly gains in 2022 (+23,000/month). Health care has added an average of 42,000 jobs per month in 2023, keeping pace with its average gains of 46,000 per month in 2022. In the construction sector, employment has increased by an average of 15,000 per month in 2023, compared to an average of 22,000 per month in 2022.

The professional and business services sector didn’t change significantly in June (+21,000), however that figure was below its 2023 average of +40,000/month and less than its 2022 average of +62,000/month.

Lagging Industries: Once again, hiring in leisure and hospitality didn’t change significantly in the month (+21,000), the third consecutive month of little to no change for the sector. Employment in leisure and hospitality is still well below its February 2020 level by 369,000 jobs. Retail trade once again showed a small drop in employment of -11,000 jobs and there has been little net change in this sector for the year. Finally, transportation and warehousing lost 7,000 jobs in June.

Our Workforce Management Perspective

“In many ways, this jobs report is similar to others of the past few months in that there is some good news and some not-so-good news,” said Laurie Chamberlin, President, LHH, North America. “However, the biggest difference we’re seeing here is that hiring seems to be slowing a bit. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, it just may mean that things are leveling out a bit and perhaps returning to more balance in the jobs market. We’re still advising our clients to recruit for and retain the kind of top talent that will give them a competitive edge in any economy.”

John Morgan, President of LHH Career Transition Mobility and Leadership Development added, “I think ‘balance’ is the key word there. Hiring is still happening, but so are layoffs—we’re certainly still providing plenty of outplacement and career transition services to many organizations, but we anticipate even more balance and stability in future jobs report numbers.”

Kristen Leverone, Head of Leadership Development at LHH North America continued, “As hiring is slowing a bit, it’s a great time for organizations to look internally and make sure they’re doing everything they can to retain and develop their best performers.”

Main Takeaway: Job growth has been steady for about two-and-a-half years now, so the fact that June’s numbers came in well under projections may be a sign that this growth is cooling a bit. This doesn’t mean the job market won’t continue its upward trajectory, simply that the trajectory may not be so steep for the foreseeable future. While the unemployment rate remains low and work hours remain steady, we’re hopeful that the labor market continues to achieve more balance over this summer. Check back with us next month for our July Jobs Report Overview.