WASHINGTON (AP) — American companies slowed their hiring considerably last month, adding just 57,000 jobs — a figure that falls short of even half the previous month’s total and signals that businesses are still treading carefully when it comes to the economy.
According to the Labor Department, which released the data on Thursday, the national unemployment rate edged down to 4.2% from 4.3% in May. However, that improvement was largely driven not by more people finding work, but by workers growing discouraged and dropping out of the job search altogether — meaning they were no longer counted in the unemployment figures.
The report paints a picture of an economy where businesses remain hesitant. Inflation has climbed to its highest point in three years, and consumer confidence is hovering near its lowest levels since the pandemic era. Making matters worse, the stronger job numbers initially reported for April and May were revised downward.
Despite these headwinds, the overall economy is still expanding, though at a modest pace. Output grew at an annual rate of 2.1% during the first quarter of the year. Some economic forecasters, however, are predicting that growth will decelerate when figures for the April through June period are tallied.
