U.S. Adds 195,000 Jobs in June, Same as Average for Second Quarter

There were 195,000 jobs added to the United States economy in June, according to the monthly jobs data release by the Labor Department. The number was more than most economists’ expectations. The official unemployment rate, however, stayed put at 7.6 percent.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the most active industry for job growth was Leisure and Hospitality, adding 75,000 jobs in the month with 52,000 of those jobs opening up at restaurants and bars. Employment in professional and business services rose by 53,000 in June.

Federal government employment continued to trend down in June (-5,000) and has declined by 65,000 over the past 12 months.

Jobs numbers from April and May were revised upwards by a total of 70,000.

With the revisions, the total monthly jobs picture became very stable over the three months of the second quarter, with near-identical monthly job addition numbers of 199k, 195k, and 195k, respectively.

For the second quarter, an average of 196,333 jobs were added each month, slightly below the 197,667 average of the first quarter of 2013. When compared also to the average monthly job gains of the fourth quarter 2012, another stability trend emerges: for the past nine months, job gains have averaged roughly 200,000 per month.