Nationwide, employers added 132,000 jobs in June, up slightly from the 125,000 predicted by analysts. The national unemployment rate held steady at 4.5 percent, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Jobs were added at the highest rate in the education, health services, leisure, hospitality and government sectors. New jobs added in those areas offset losses in manufacturing and retail.
Surprisingly, the construction industry also managed to add jobs last month, despite a sustained slump in the domestic housing market, according to the report.
The Labor Department also issued revised employment figures for April and May of this year that raised the reported job gains in each month to 122,000 and 190,000, respectively, up from the 80,000 and 157,000 new jobs reported earlier.
To go along with increases in employment, wages also saw a modest bump in June, up 0.3 percent over May to $17.38 per hour on average. Wages have grown 3.9 percent over the past year, the Labor Department said.
