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Unemployment dipped, but more people left the workforce: What's going on in the job market?
Yahoo Finance • • business
Key Points:
- June's job growth of 57,000 fell short of economists' expectations, with payroll expansion slowing after several months of gains, though the unemployment rate decreased to 4.2%.
- Long-term unemployment remains elevated above 27%, with 1.9 million people unemployed for 27 weeks or more, a level not seen since 2016 outside the COVID-19 period.
- Labor force participation dropped to 61.5%, the lowest since March 2021, including a decline among prime working-age individuals, suggesting some people may be discouraged from job searching.
- Despite 7.6 million job openings reported, hiring rates stayed low, quits were flat, and layoffs slightly increased, indicating a stagnant labor market with limited worker movement.
- Analysts caution that some unusual data in the report, such as employment drops in hospitality and among young adults, may reflect noise rather than trends, leaving the labor market outlook uncertain.
