U.S. Employers Add 57,000 Jobs in June While Unemployment Rate Falls to 4.2%

U.S. employers added 57,000 jobs in June, less than half the revised total for May, the Labor Department said Thursday. Fortune reported the figures showed businesses maintaining a cautious stance amid inflation at a three-year high and consumer confidence near post-pandemic lows.

The unemployment rate declined to 4.2 percent from 4.3 percent in May. The drop occurred mostly because many people out of work stopped looking for jobs and were no longer counted as unemployed. May hiring was revised down to 129,000 from the initial 172,000.

April job gains were revised to 148,000 from the original 179,000. Restaurants, bars, and hotels cut 61,000 jobs despite the World Cup tournament taking place in multiple U.S. cities. Retailers shed 7,500 positions.

Professional and business services added 36,000 jobs. Healthcare added nearly 47,000 positions. The economy expanded at a 2.1 percent annual pace in the first quarter of 2026. The Federal Reserve’s key interest rate stands at about 3.6 percent.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said Wednesday he would push inflation back to the Fed’s 2 percent target but declined to comment on whether rates would rise at the July meeting. Nicole Bachaud, labor economist at ZipRecruiter, said companies are posting more jobs for senior, experienced workers while job seekers apply mainly for entry-level roles.

With fewer people quitting jobs than after the pandemic, she said, employers struggle to recruit experienced staff from other firms.