U.S. employers continued to hire in June, but at a slower pace than in the first few months of the year, while wage growth was the fastest in five years, the U.S. Labor Department said today.

Nonfarm payrolls grew 121,000 last month after climbing 92,000 in May and 112,000 in April, Labor said. Previous estimates showed a 75,000-job increase in May and a 126,000 gain in April.

The unemployment rate was unchanged last month at 4.6%, which is the lowest level since mid 2001.

Despite the moderation in job growth, there were some signs of inflationary pressure. Average hourly earnings rose 8¢, or 0.5%, to US$16.70. Compared with a year earlier, June hourly earnings were up 3.9%, the fastest annual growth pace since June 2001. Average weekly earnings increased to US$566.13.

The jobs numbers were below Wall Street expectations. Economists had projected a 200,000 payroll jobs increase and a 4.6% unemployment rate.

However, wage growth topped expectations, as economists had expected just a 0.3% monthly gain in average hourly earnings. The average workweek increased by six minutes to 33.9 hours in June.


Weakness in construction and retailing — two sectors that shed jobs — tempered overall employment gains in June. Financial companies, education and health services, government and even manufacturers were among those boosting jobs. The Labor Department said hiring in goods-producing industries rose by 15,000. Within this category, manufacturing firms added 15,000 jobs. Construction shed 4,000 jobs. Service-sector employment grew by 106,000. Retail payrolls fell by 6,600, while business and professional services companies’ payrolls increased by 25,000. Education and health services added 26,000 jobs.