Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2012-07-06

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 continued to edge up in June (+80,000), and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2 percent. Employment growth averaged 75,000 per month in the second quarter of the year, compared with an average monthly increase of 226,000 in the first quarter. Slower job growth in the second quarter occurred in most major industries. Employment in professional and business services grew by 47,000 in June. Since the most recent low in September 2009, employment in the industry has risen by 1.5 million. Much of the growth occurred in temporary help services, which added 25,000 jobs over the month and 776,000 jobs since September 2009. Manufacturing employment continued to edge up in June (+11,000).