US Job Growth Slowed in June as Unemployment Rate Rose to 4.1%

Job growth in the U.S. slowed in June from the previous month, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1%.

U.S. employers added 206,000 jobs in June, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires expected the jobs report to show 200,000 new positions added in June, with the unemployment rate staying at 4%.

The BLS also said it had revised lower the jobs growth figures for the previous two months. The May jobs figures was cut by 54,000 to 218,000, while the April number was cut by 57,000 to 108,000.

Average hourly wages increased by 0.3% in June from the previous month, and were higher by 3.9% from the same month last year, both of which met economist forecasts. 

Treasury yields fell following the release of the BLS report, as investors assess the possibility that the jobs numbers will help give the Federal Reserve confidence to consider cutting its benchmark interest rate in the coming months.

Some Fed officials have said now that inflation is moving lower, they are looking more closely at the labor market, as sudden shifts in unemployment levels could move the central bank to act more quickly on interest rate cuts.  

Earlier this week, the ADP employment report showed that private-sector job growth in June slowed for the third consecutive month.