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U.S. payrolls rose by 57,000 in June as unemployment held at 4.2%

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said U.S. nonfarm payroll employment increased by 57,000 in June 2026, while the unemployment rate held at 4.2%. April and May payroll gains were revised lower by a combined 74,000 jobs.

The June jobs report showed modest hiring, a steady unemployment rate and downward revisions to prior payroll gains.

Payrolls rose modestly in June

U.S. nonfarm payroll employment rose by 57,000 in June 2026, while the unemployment rate remained at 4.2%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported July 2.

The number of unemployed people stood at 7.1 million, according to the agency’s Employment Situation release. The labor force participation rate fell 0.3 percentage point to 61.5%, and the employment-population ratio edged down 0.2 point to 59.0%.

The report also revised prior months lower. April payroll growth was cut by 31,000, from 179,000 to 148,000. May growth was reduced by 43,000, from 172,000 to 129,000. Taken together, April and May employment was 74,000 lower than previously reported, BLS said.

Sector gains and losses were uneven

Professional and business services added 36,000 jobs in June. BLS said employment in that sector was 172,000 jobs above a recent low in October 2025.

Social assistance employment rose by 25,000, with individual and family services accounting for 17,000 of that gain. Health care added 22,000 jobs, slower than its average monthly gain of 38,000 over the prior 12 months. Hospitals added 9,000 jobs.

Leisure and hospitality employment fell by 61,000 in June. BLS said employment in that sector had shown little net change so far in 2026.

Employment changed little over the month in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation and warehousing; information; financial activities; other services; and government, according to the release.

Worker measures changed little

Unemployment rates showed little or no change across major worker groups. BLS reported unemployment at 3.9% for adult men, 3.7% for adult women, 14.6% for teenagers, 3.6% for White workers, 6.6% for Black workers, 3.9% for Asian workers and 5.2% for Hispanic workers.

Long-term unemployed people, those jobless for an extended period, totaled 1.9 million in June and were up 286,000 over the year. They accounted for 27.3% of all unemployed people.

People working part time for economic reasons numbered 4.7 million. Another 6.0 million people were not in the labor force but wanted a job. Marginally attached workers totaled 1.8 million, while discouraged workers numbered 477,000, BLS reported.

Hours and pay

The average workweek for all private nonfarm employees was unchanged at 34.3 hours. In manufacturing, the average workweek edged down to 40.3 hours, while overtime edged up to 3.2 hours.

For private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees, average hourly earnings rose 7 cents, or 0.2%, to $32.38. Their average workweek declined by 0.1 hour to 33.7 hours.

What happens next

The next Employment Situation report was scheduled for Aug. 7, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.

BLS said it planned to publish the preliminary 2026 benchmark revision to establishment survey data on Aug. 28, 2026, at 10 a.m. Eastern. The final benchmark revision was scheduled to be issued with the January 2027 Employment Situation release in February 2027.