U.S. jobs rebound in June report

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday that the nation’s employers added 224,000 jobs in the month of June, despite concerns about a slower economy after a disappointing report in May. The increase beat projections by Bloomberg economists, who had predicted a 160,000 job gain. “It’s a really, really strong report across the board,” Torsten Slok, chief economist for Deutsche Bank, told Bloomberg.

The gain sparked debate over whether the Federal Reserve should cut interest rates later this month to boost the economy, a decision that looked clearer when a slowdown seemed apparent. Many investors had been anticipating a cut. Unemployment stayed at around the same level, moving up to 3.7 percent from 3.6 percent the previous two months. But the gain in jobs continues to stay ahead of the increase in new workers, promising to keep the rate of unemployment low. Jobs increased by a higher rate across the board, with strong gains in construction, healthcare, local government, and manufacturing. After a small 72,000 job gain in May, manufacturers hired 17,000 new employees in June.

Last month’s increase bumped this year’s average monthly job gain up to 171,000.