Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2014-07-03

Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 288,000 in June, and the unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 6.1 percent. Job gains were widespread, led by employment growth in professional and business services, retail trade, food services, and health care. Incorporating the revisions for April and May, which increased total nonfarm employment by 29,000 on net, monthly job gains have averaged 272,000 over the past 3 months. In the 12 months prior to June, employment growth averaged 201,000 per month. In June, employment in professional and business services rose by 67,000; the prior 12-month average gain was 53,000 per month. Employment increased in June in management and technical consulting, architectural and engineering services, and computer systems design.