The Employment Situation: June 2005 — 2005-07-08

Nonfarm employment increased by 146,000 in June, and the unemployment rate continued to trend down, reaching 5.0 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the month, payroll em- ployment continued to grow in several industries, notably professional and business services and health care. The jobless rate in June was 5.0 percent, seasonally adjusted. It has trended downward since February 2005 and is now 1.3 percentage points lower than its most recent high in June 2003. The number of unemployed persons was little changed over the month at 7.5 million, but is down by 1.7 million since June 2003. The jobless rates for most major worker groups--adult men (4.3 percent), adult women (4.6 percent), whites (4.3 percent), blacks (10.3 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (5.8 percent)--showed little or no change in June. The unemployment rate for teenagers edged down to 16.4 percent over the month.