Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2017-07-07

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 increased by 222,000 in June, and the unemployment rate, at 4.4 percent, was little changed. Job gains occurred in health care, social assistance, financial activities, and mining. Incorporating revisions for April and May, which increased nonfarm payroll employment by 47,000, monthly job gains have averaged 194,000 over the past 3 months. In June, health care employment rose by 37,000. Job gains occurred in ambulatory health care services (+26,000) and hospitals (+12,000). Job growth in health care has averaged 24,000 per month for the first half of 2017, compared with an average monthly gain of 32,000 in 2016. The social assistance industry added 23,000 jobs in June and has added 115,000 jobs over the year.