Getty Economy added 287,000 jobs in June

U.S. employers added 287,000 jobs in June, the Labor Department reported Friday, up from 11,000 in May, beating expectations and signaling a robust economy ahead of the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

June's jobs numbers suggest May's disappointing jobs report may have been a blip, instead of a sign of broader economic slowdown. That's welcome news for Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton and bad news for GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump, who earlier described May's jobs report as a "bombshell."


Unemployment was 4.9 percent, up from May’s 4.7 percent and average hourly private sector earnings were up 2 cents. In May, they were up 6 cents.

The number of workers who were part time because of economic reasons declined to 5.8 million in June, from 6.4 million in May.

Jason Furman, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, called June's jobs report a "bounce-back from May's low number and a clear indication that the economy continues to make solid progress." He said June's jobs numbers are "well above" the pace needed to maintain a low and stable unemployment rate. He attributed some of the acceleration in job growth from the previous month to the end of the Verizon strike, which sidelined about 35,000 telecommunications workers.

Republicans, however, were less enthusiastic. House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.) said that while "it's certainly good news that more Americans are back to work ... we have a long way to go before every worker has a good-paying job."

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) noted that "the average pace of job creation this year is just 172,000 — well below the last two years."

Analysts said June's jobs numbers were a good sign for the economy. Hugh Johnson, chairman at Hugh Johnson Advisors LLC, told Bloomberg that, "if you take the last three months and smooth these numbers out. ... employment conditions are improving, but there’s no question there’s, to some extent, a slowdown in the improvement." However, he said, "That’s to be expected when you reach ... full employment.”

Elise Gould, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, called Friday's numbers "a welcome boost after the weakness in the last two months." But she cautioned the U.S. remains far from full employment and that "that there’s still a fair amount of weakness to account for."

Analysts had predicted the creation of about 180,000 jobs, an unemployment rate of 4.8 percent and an increase in hourly earnings of 0.2 percent, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The payroll company ADP, which uses its own records, estimated Thursday that June job growth in the private sector was 172,000, up from its May calculation of 168,000.

The jobs report followed news from the Commerce Department last month that GDP increased 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2016, higher than an initial estimate of 0.5 percent and a second estimate of 0.8 percent, but lower than the fourth quarter of 2015’s 1.4 percent and the third quarter’s 2 percent. Commerce’s first cut at estimating second quarter growth for 2016 will be released July 29.

Labor force participation remained low at 62.7 percent, up from May’s 62.6 percent, close to its lowest level since the 1970s.